Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency work closely with the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and the newly appointed Ombud to ensure the timely development and launch of a robust public awareness campaign to support the opening of the Office of the Ombud and increase residents' understanding of services the office provides and how to access them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 10-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 20: Ombudsperson Act, and Bill 20, Ombudsperson Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to all of the honourable Members of this House for weighing in with their thoughts on this and on what is by its very nature a divisive issue but a conversation that we must have from time to time.

I wanted to address some of the thoughts and comments that were made here and one that members of the public have also been talking about keep coming back to. It's this notion that now is not the right time for a Minister to be removed from the privilege of serving on the Executive Council because there is only one year left. Well, Mr. Speaker, the mid-term...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS pursuant to section 61(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner the appointment of Members to the Executive Council Act. The Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner the appointment of Members of the Executive Council;

AND WHEREAS pursuant to section 61(2) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the persons appointment to hold office during the pleasure of the Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS the Assembly pursuant to these powers have chosen the honourable Member for...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I hope that this amendment can shed some light to the exchange that my honourable friends from Thebacha and Frame Lake just had.

The committee's initial motion was to remove any such temporal limitations on the Ombud's mandate. The Minister did not concur during the standing committee review. The committee has since worked with the Minister's office to try to find a compromise, understanding the government's concerns around wide backwards-looking powers of the Ombud.

A decision was reached that January 1, 2016, at the beginning of this government's mandate, was an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two members of the Kam Lake constituency: Mr. Todd Parsons, president of the Union of Northern Workers and Kam Lake constituent; and Mr. Fraser Oliver, Kam Lake constituent and member of the NWT Teacher's Association. Thank you for being here today.

I would also like to recognize Mr. Dave Ramsay, the former Member for Kam Lake, and Mr. Garrett Cochrane, the former CA for the Member for Kam Lake. Thank you.

My apologies, Mr. Chair. I move the chair rise and report progress.

Mr. Chair, I move that the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole leave the chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that Bill 20 be amended by deleting subclause 15(1) and substituting the following:

15.(1) The mandate of the Ombud is to investigate any decision, recommendation made, or any act done or omitted, by an authority or by any officer, employee, or member of an authority, in the exercise of any power or duty conferred on that person or body by any enactment, that

(a) relates to a matter of administration or the implementation of a policy; and

(b) aggrieves or may aggrieve any person or body of persons in the person's or its personal capacity.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency work closely with the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and the newly appointed Ombud to ensure that appropriate procedures are established to advise the Tlicho government of any investigations by the Ombud of the Tlicho Community Services Agency and for the provision of the Ombud's report to the Tlicho government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.