Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly was an early advocate for the ombudsman during my first term in the 15th Assembly, and then in the 16th Assembly I did question, similarly as the Premier had done, wondering about the value and the challenges put before us.
I often wondered: would the MLAs be putting themselves out of a job by having an ombudsman because people would first think that is the person we should be going to. But over time I have learned even more. I have been given the chance to understand the complexities and particular issues and appreciate how challenging they can be. I think Member Groenewegen really talked well about the types of struggles we have and how far our personal limitations can be. It’s not just about your pocketbook anymore when you march government to court. It’s about being able to get the right access to the right information to make sure we make the right decisions.
I recall a time when I approached a particular department – the department will remain faceless – I remember an applicant came to me, she told me she was applying for a program. She told me her former spouse went and scuttled her application by whispering false information. By the time I was able to deal with this with the particular department, well, money had gone by, too bad, that’s the way it goes. They wouldn’t provide any information as to what they were doing or how they were investigating, other than the fact that they said, we manage and investigate our own issues. It was a very challenging issue. I had to go back to the constituent with very little support from anyone and say, how do we deal with this situation? I had no recourse at the time. She had no recourse at the time, and at the time government said, that’s the way it is.
I don’t believe the ombudsman is the solution to every problem, nor should anyone else think the ombudsman is the solution to every problem. What I do say, though, is it is important that we have all the tools in our toolbox that work. When the person needs these types of levers, they need to be ready and there to grab them in case of an emergency.
Many challenges about information are about being given access. MLAs are denied a lot of access to information, so how do we really know if we are getting to the bottom line of a situation? We don’t know. We often have to say to the face of government and sit in frustration because of confidentiality and other processes.
If we did it by the numbers… I want to thank that Member Moses for sort of qualifying it in his own way. I had actually thought of it slightly different, but the same kind of mechanism. Over the past firefighting season we spent approximately $40 million, and of course, we have all heard the story it was about a million dollars a day. We have all heard the cost of an ombudsman office that can run anywhere between $400,000 and $600,000 per year. If I did that in firefighter dollars, that’s less than half a day in firefighter dollars to make sure Northerners are safe for a year.
If I took MLA Dolynny’s numbers of highway money, this would be less than half a kilometre of highway to know that our people are protected. I think our people are worth at least a half a kilometre of protection. I think that our people in the Northwest Territories are worth half a day and certainly more than half a day of firefighting.
The point I am making is, we can justify the spending of some money some ways and we can certainly justify the money we are not spending in other ways. It’s very easy; these are called decisions. Now, I understand, I know and I can appreciate, as I am going to wrap up my statement here and say this, I know government has challenges when Members give direction, we have seen this trouble recently on the Junior Kindergarten. We are all Members united together over a common cause for the people.
I will finish by saying something very simple. I have often been told, if you want something done, make it their idea. I am willing to say every single Member of this Assembly is willing to give the ombudsman initiative to the Premier and Cabinet. So I am going to finish by saying, Tom Beaulieu, I am going to thank you for your fine work on this job. Michael Miltenberger, you have always been a visionary on this issue. Bob McLeod, I appreciate your help on this initiative. Jackson Lafferty, I applaud your understanding the complication of this problem. David Ramsay, your achievements behind the scenes will always never go unnoticed. R.C. McLeod, your willingness to understand the complexity of the issue goes well above and beyond. As I said, I don’t need the credit, and I suspect none of our Members need the credit. We need to be there for the citizens of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Premier, feel free to take all the credit on this initiative. I will welcome it and I have no doubt all my colleagues do, all we need to do is act. Thank you.
Next time, Mr. Hawkins, you direct your comments at me, not looking at your colleagues on the other side of the floor. I will allow the mover of the motion now. Mr. Nadli, we will have closing remarks. To the motion. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s important to note that this report that the Government Operations had produced was produced back in June and we made it available to the public on the website. It has been five months since it sat in the public domain for the people to contemplate the next steps that we are in right now.
Just an indication of the next steps, it’s the understanding of this side that through the legislative process there is going to be a legislative proposal at the same time there is going to be a level of public consultation to determine the scope of the office of the ombudsman in terms of its operations as well. What is also important to note is that commonly in community, elders view the government as…[English translation not provided.]
One of the goals of the office of the ombudsman is to humanize government and that’s the role of the ombudsman.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please rise.
Mr. Nadli, Mr. Hawkins, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Moses, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Blake, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Dolynny, Mr. Bouchard.
All those opposed, please rise. All those abstaining, please rise.
Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod – Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod – Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Results of the recorded vote: in favour, 11; opposed, zero; abstentions, six.
---Carried
---Applause
Mr. Yakeleya.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, November 6, 2014, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 4, 2015;
AND FURTHER, that any time prior to February 4, 2015, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 41, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act, be read for the second time.
This bill amends the Partnership Act to clarify that registration requirements in respect of partnership and business names apply to all partnerships and businesses operating in the Northwest Territories, including when registrations are to be made and renewed. It sets out restrictions on names that may be registered and set out, administrative provisions that are similar to provisions in the Business Corporations Act, include a right to seek a judicial review of a decision made by the registrar before the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, specifies specific offenses in relation to each partnership class, make consequential amendments to the Business Corporations Act, Liquor Act and Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, and make other amendments to improve clarity and readability. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 41 has had second reading. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act, be read for the second time.
This bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act to reduce the retention period for inspector reports from three years to 18 months, require landlords to provide receipts to tenants and former tenants on request, clarify that subsection 51(5) applies to both tenancies which begin as a fixed term and of periodic tenancies, permit termination of a tenancy agreement in circumstances where family violence has occurred, provide a remedy for improper termination of a tenancy agreement resulting from a notice of rent increase, clarify that a condominium corporation may apply to a rental officer to terminate a tenancy and evict a tenant, provide that a tenancy agreement for subsidized public housing is reinstated when an eviction order is denied, permit orders and decisions of a rental officer to be enforced as a judgment of the Supreme Court, and allow for regulations to establish fees for making applications under the act. The bill also includes a consequential amendment to the Condominium Act.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly do speak in favour of the principle of the bill, but I do feel that the Residential Tenancies Act update is missing some critical components. I’ll just leave it as simple as that, for example, the Hotel Keepers Act allows someone to be let go, removed, and evicted where the update of the Residential Tenancies Act shows that it’s well thought out that people are protected, and I would assume that the update would have considered these types of remedies.
The example I provide to somebody is that there are folks out there who can only rent in certain spots, and in some cases, in our communities, they can only rent in hotels, and some hotels lease residences for month to month but they come with no rights. The Residential Tenancies Act is being updated here and it would have been a great time to amalgamate, actually, the two bills, and it probably would have been to everyone’s great advantage.
A person renting from a landlord has more rights if they rented in my house than they would if they rented at a hotel because they come with no rights. The issue, really, I’m saying that I agree with the updates provided by, I’ve seen the preamble of the bill, and I have no disagreement with that. I just see it as an issue where we’ve missed a real opportunity to give people rights who need them.
In summary, if a person rents month to month from a hotel, they can be evicted at any time, their stuff can be taken, and they have zero rights. Normally, you would suggest to point them to the rental and tenancy office but they have no authority to deal with that particular issue. I’ve dealt with this issue recently and I’ve found that there is a huge gap. I’ll be taking it up with the particular committee, but I did think that I wanted to remind people with the principle of this bill that we have a huge advantage to taking just a small step forward to provide people protection that deserve it. That’s all.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 42 has had second reading and is referred to committee.
Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Item 21, report of Committee of the Whole. Item 22, third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, will you ascertain if the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable George Tuccaro, is prepared to enter the Chamber to assent to bills.
Mr. Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, good afternoon.
I’d like to take a moment to encourage all residents to honour the service and sacrifice made by members of the Canadian Armed Forces as we approach Remembrance Day next Tuesday.
As I look ahead to the coming holiday season and the celebration of Christmas, I would like to wish each and every one of you a joyous and safe holiday season filled with hope, good health, inspiration and time with your families and friends as we enter into the coming New Year of 2015.
Before we adjourn today, colleagues, I would like to thank the Pages who have helped us out during this sitting. I know I speak for all Members when I say thank you for a job well done.
---Applause
It is always such a pleasure to have our northern youth join us in the Chamber.
For those young people who would like to learn more about government, you may want to consider participating in our upcoming Youth Parliament. Youth Parliament is scheduled from May 4 to 8, 2015. Detailed information will be posted on the Assembly website in the New Year.
Colleagues, every year on November 11th, Canadians pause for a moment of silence to honour and remember the women and men who have served and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. I have seen Members wearing poppies during the past weeks as a symbol of remembrance, a symbol that is particularly meaningful to all Canadians this year.
I encourage all NWT residents to take a moment, wherever you may be on November 11th, to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who have served and continue to serve our country.
Members, when we leave here today, some will continue to work in the capital, some will return to work in their constituencies and committees will prepare for meetings in December. The work of government does not end when we conclude today.
However, we will not meet again formally and in this Chamber until the New Year. So although it may be a little early, please let me take this opportunity to wish all the residents of the Northwest Territories a happy holiday season and a healthy, safe and peaceful New Year.
Orders of the day for Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at 1:30 p.m.:
Prayer
Ministers’ Statements
Members’ Statements
Returns to Oral Questions
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to Opening Address
Petitions
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
Motions
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, February 4th, at 1:30 p.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 5:04 p.m.
