Debates of October 30, 2006 (day 18)

Yes, I would, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Is committee agreed?

Agreed.

Then we will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms if he would escort the witnesses to the witness table.

Mr. Ramsay, for the record, would you please introduce your witnesses?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have Ms. Janis Cooper with the Department of Justice; to my right is Mr. Glen McLean, CEO.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. I will open the floor for general comments. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Some brief comments and a question. Of course, I am speaking here as a proponent of the bill. It’s one of the larger ones to come before this Assembly so far, Madam Chair, at about 360 clauses.

I guess one very general observation I would make about this kind of legislation, Madam Chair, is elections are one of the very significant cornerstones of democracy and of the faith and the trust that our constituents have in how they choose their representatives. It’s not something that should ever be taken for granted. That is a very strong and compelling reason for this legislation to come forward. It modernizes and cleans up many election practices, brings them into line with what works for us here in the Northwest Territories and what is good practice elsewhere.

One of the interesting things that I have come to understand about democracy, from connection with some of our events with the Commonwealth countries of the world, is that even among countries in the Commonwealth, there is great discrepancy and variance in how elections are run, in their integrity and in the confidence that people can have in them. I think Canada is very fortunate to have one of the most stringent election processes in the Commonwealth. For that we should be proud, but we should never, of course, never take that for granted. That is why even though we have, as I say, one of the biggest bills yet to come before this Assembly, it is a very important one.

Madam Chair, a question I would like to ask relates to the plebiscites portion of the bill. I believe this bill reflects an amalgamation where there were two separate acts; one an Elections Act and prior to that a Plebiscites Act and they are now one.

It has been problematic, Madam Chair, especially for some smaller communities, that when plebiscites are held, there have been some pretty stringent requirements for approval or passage of some plebiscites. Very high numbers of the population, it’s my recollection, were required to turn out and a high number of voters had to go one way or the other. This was especially problematic, Madam Chair, for plebiscites in some communities for control of liquor.

I am wondering if this new act, Madam Chair, changes any of those criteria or makes it more convenient or less stringent to have approval or passage of a plebiscite in a community, compared to what I understand were very stringent requirements before. Have we changed those at all, Madam Chair?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With Bill 15, the fact of the matter is, communities are responsible for any plebiscites they would have at the community level and the type of stringent guidelines the Member talks about is not part of Bill 15. It would be up to the communities to set their own guidelines in that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is that a provision of the new act, then, that communities can set their own criteria, whereas before it was lockdown, Madam Chair?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Ramsay.

Yes, that is the way this bill is set up, Mr. Braden. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Any other general comments? Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to speak very briefly in support of the bill. I think it’s a bill that contains lots of provisions that would clean up, so to speak, or enhance or improve our election procedures and set more clear rules and guidelines on certain areas of election rules where there are more grey areas than we would want to have had.

I am in support of this bill. This is quite a lengthy bill and one of the things that it is doing is to set the time for the election and it’s now going to be known with certainty. I don’t think a lot of people who are not familiar with this issue appreciate as much the extent to which the complexities have gone on in deciding that because of the vast differences in our weather systems or the large territory that we have to gather. In the past, election days were not set. Sometimes we don’t get, not recognized, but we don’t take time to pause and be happy or grateful for those important decisions we do make. I think this is one of them and now when this legislation comes into effect, everyone on the land who is interested in putting their name forward will know just like the rest of us sitting here, who is planning on running again. I think that’s just part of good governing in a democracy.

There are lots of provisions like that here. I just want to put on record my support for the general provisions and specific provisions of this legislation. I also want to express my appreciation to the Chief Electoral Officer and the staff for doing the work that he’s done. I just wanted to put that on record. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. General comments. Any further general comments?

Detail.

We will proceed there with the detail. There will be a motion for an amendment at clause 5. Until then, we will proceed clause by clause. After that, I believe we will group, because there are 361 clauses, we will group some of them together, but we will try not to move too quickly in case anyone has any questions. Clause 1.

Agreed.

Clause 2.

Agreed.

Clause 3.

Agreed.

Clause 4.

Agreed.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that clause 5 of Bill 15 be amended by adding the following after proposed subclause (5):

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the first Chief Electoral Officer appointed after that subsection comes into force holds office during good behaviour for a term of two years. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question.

Question is being called. All those in favour of the motion? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Clause 5, as amended.

Agreed.

Thank you. Now we are going to group these together. Clauses 6 through 25.

Agreed.

Clauses 26 through 45.

Agreed.

Clauses 45 through 65.

Agreed.

Clauses 66 to 85.

Agreed.

Clauses 86 to 105.

Agreed.

Clauses 106 to 125.

Agreed.

Clauses 126 to 145.

Agreed.

Clauses 146 to 165.

Agreed.

Clauses 166 to 185.

Agreed.

Clauses 186 to 205.