Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know which way the wind is blowing on this amendment, so I won't belabour the point too much, but for the purposes of posterity, I wish to make sure these amendments make their way into the official record so that we can see clearly what was being proposed and clearly how these amendments were designed to create options for our residents.

There are a few more amendments I will move as well for the same purposes, but we don't have to belabour the point, and I won't be asking for recorded votes. Thank you.

Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chair. I know it is not our typical process to allow the mover to close this debate, but I welcome the opportunity. I just wanted to comment on Members who have raised concerns about consultation, and I am not going to pretend like this isn't a big issue, but we talk about it all the time and typically around election cycles, and then we don't talk about until the next election cycle, and so on and so forth.

This is an attempt to draw public debate into a very specific proposal that was not proposing to transform this Chamber today into a political party...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 24 be amended in subclause 2(4) by adding the following proposed definitions in alphabetical order:

"authorized representative" meaning a person authorized by a political party to provide the necessary consent to enable a person to be identified on a ballot as a member of a political party;

"political party" means an association, organization, or affiliation of electors comprising a political organization, one of the purposes of which is to nominate and support candidates in elections;

"registered political party" means a political organization that is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee would like to consider Tabled Document 215-18(3), Capital Estimates, 2019-2020, with the Departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Infrastructure, and Finance reviewed in that order; and then further to consider Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to a matter that is very concerning to the Members of this House and the citizens of the Northwest Territories, and that is the potential for a strike that will be taken by the Union of Northern Workers, following the reported failure of mediation between the UNW and the GNWT's negotiators. We, as a territory, have more than enough divisive strike actions in our history that Northerners know they don't want another one.

Mr. Speaker, 4,000 employees of the territorial public service have been without contract for two and a half years...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 24 be amended by renumbering clause 60 as subclause 60(1) and adding the following after that renumbered subclause:

(2) The following is added after subsection 238(1):

(1.1) A person who may be a candidate for an electoral district may, during the period of time prior to the pre-election period and campaign period for an election, use an amount of his or her own funds not exceeding $30,000 to promote his or her candidacy or election.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I did not request a recorded vote.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that Bill 24 be amended in clause 34 by adding the following after paragraph (a):

(a.1) adding the following after paragraph (o):

(o.1) if the person being nominated wishes to be identified on the ballot as a member of a registered political party

(i) contain the consent of the party's authorized representative, as indicated by the authorized representative's signature, and

(ii) contain the person's written declaration that he or she is a member of a registered political party and wishes to be identified as a member of that party on the ballot.

Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this motion simply lays out the definitions that clarify later amendments that will be proposed. Quite plainly, it speaks to what a political party is, what a registered political party is, and what an authorized representative is in terms of the regulations that will be proposed under the act.

Again, this provides absolute certainty to Northerners and, in particular, those who are subject to either the GNWT's code of conduct or other statutes that make explicit reference to Territorial political parties without defining them. This clarifies that issue and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased today to speak to Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. The bill provides for a series of changes that will offer much-needed flexibility and modernization of our system of elections in the NWT. I would like to acknowledge the work of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures in bringing forward these comprehensive changes to our elections legislation, along with recognizing the contributions of the Chief Electoral Officer, members of the public, and former candidates in their submissions to the review of the...