Thank you, Madam Speaker.
What practices, policies, or rule amendments are required for a Member participating by teleconference or videoconference?
Any Member participating remotely has the same rights and privileges as if they were physically present in the Chamber.
The committee discussed various issues that could affect a remote sitting, including experiences of other legislatures during the pandemic. There are several rules that will need to be revised to allow for remote sittings. Other rules need to be clarified, and some new rules are needed. The committee is also recommending revised Orders of the Day for when the House is meeting remotely.
Rule 12(10) states, "When in the Assembly every Member shall be attired in traditional Indigenous attire or in a manner that does not offend the dignity of the Assembly." While it should be clear that any Member appearing remotely should follow this rule, the committee also believes some flexibility should be used when interpreting this rule, as Members may not have their normal business clothing with them. Therefore, the committee makes the following recommendation:
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Rule 12(10) apply when a Member is appearing remotely.
The committee discussed examples from other legislatures and their committees which could have an impact on House proceedings. These included family members interrupting a Member when on a teleconference or videoconference; campaign materials being visible on screen; pets blocking the camera; and other behaviours that would not be acceptable if they happened in the Chamber. The committee felt that there should be no unnecessary distractions to the House by a Member appearing remotely.
To minimize the amount of background noise and to ensure a Member is heard as clearly as possible, the committee makes the following recommendation:
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that training and orientation for online sittings should be provided. Furthermore, the Board of Management should look at providing a headset to each Member to ensure consistency and any Member attending remotely be required to wear a headset.
The committee felt it would be inappropriate for a Member appearing remotely by videoconference to have anything onscreen that could be considered a prop, display, or exhibit. This would include items such as election signs, anything that could be considered commercial advertising, or a visually distracting background. Legislative Assembly staff should investigate a consistent or common background that could be used by all Members. Therefore, the committee makes the following recommendation:
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that any Member attending remotely by videoconference be required to have a neutral background on screen.
Further, if the Speaker determines a background is distracting to the House, the Speaker be empowered to order the Member to rectify the issue and, if the Member refuses, to turn off the Member's video and allow the Member to participate via audio only.
The committee discussed how best to conduct voting when all or some Members are participating remotely. The main concerns were making sure that all Members are able to vote and what to do if a Member is disconnected before or during a vote.
As the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act allows teleconference or videoconference options, the committee felt the best way to vote was by recorded vote instead of relying on a visual count. The clerk would call upon each Member to vote, the Member would say how they are voting, the clerk would record the vote and move on to the next Member. As there are many routine voice votes during a sitting day, the committee felt that only those votes dealing with bills or motions should be recorded.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that, whenever a Member is attending session remotely, all votes on readings of bills or on any motion that requires notice be conducted as a recorded vote.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. At this point in time, I wish to turn the floor over to the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The committee discussed what rules were needed for Members' and Ministers' statements during remote sittings. For Ministers statements, the committee felt that, as these were well circulated on government websites and social media, in the event a Minister was unable to conclude a statement due to lost connection, no special provisions were required.
As Members do not have the same level of support to make the public aware of a statement, the committee felt a new rule was needed for Members' statements. The committee decided that a Member participating remotely can file their statement with the clerk in writing at least one hour before the House sits. In the event a Member loses their connection while giving their statement, there are two options available. The submitted statement could be printed in Hansard with a notation, or, if the Member reconnects before the end of Members' statements, the Member can ask to be put back on the list to speak. The Member would then be allowed to conclude their statement. The statement would then be printed in full in Hansard with the first attempt printed up to the point when the Member was cut off.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that, in the event a Member loses connection while delivering a Member's statement, that the Speaker ask the Member to conclude their statement once they are reconnected, provided the House has not moved to another order. In the event that the Members' statements have been concluded when the Member reconnects, the Member's statement would be printed in full at the end of Members' statements.
The committee reviewed the orders of the day for any orders that may need changes during a remote sitting of the entire Assembly. In addition to the changes already discussed in this report, the committee recommends that the following orders, or the rules associated with those orders, be amended:
Prayer
Members should remain seated during the prayer and keep a respectful demeanour.
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Only an executive summary of the report should be read. The rest of the report will be deemed read and be printed in full in Hansard.
Replies to the Commissioner's Address
As this item allows Members to speak with no time limit on any topic, the committee felt it could present issues during a remote sitting. Since Members can make one reply at any time during a session, the committee felt it was reasonable to drop "Replies to the Commissioner's address" from the orders of the day during a fully remote sitting of the Legislative Assembly.
Replies to the Budget Address
In the event that a budget address is given during a remote sitting, under the rules, there are only seven possible days a Member can reply. The committee discussed how best to deal with replies. In the event that a Member is disconnected while giving a reply, the Member can resume with the time remaining on the clock on the next day. If the Member was cut off on the last day, the Member may submit their full statement in writing, and it will be printed in full in Hansard.
Motions
During a remote sitting of the Assembly, the committee felt allowing motions to be called for three days, rather than two, before being dropped from the orders. If a Member is disconnected during a debate on a motion, that Member must make every effort to reconnect. The proceedings will not be halted, and if the Member is unable to reconnect, they can contact the table officers to record their vote. All votes will be recorded votes conducted pursuant to recommendation 9.
Second Reading of Bills
Members will have the option of submitting a written statement to the purpose of the Bill that will be printed in full in Hansard.
Recommendation 14
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the House adopt a revised daily order of business in the Rules of the Legislative Assembly for a remote sitting, pursuant to the changes listed in this report.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will now pass it down to my colleague, the Chair of the committee, Mr. O'Reilly.
Mr. Chair, from what the Premier shared with us, obviously not everybody is onboard. This whole thing called secretariat, another form of bureaucracy within this government. We have 5,000-plus employees, almost 6,000, in the Northwest Territories, and we're going to create another 150. Mr. Chair, obviously, I fully support a coordination to deal with COVID-19 since March. We were doing fine with MACA and various other departments coordinating with internal resources, internal bodies that can take on these work assignments. When it came to the secretariat in August, that was the first time we heard the creation of this secretariat and no input from the public.
Mr. Chair, just as recent as yesterday when I went to a funeral in Behchoko, obviously people are still questioning why are we spending $87 million on the bureaucracy if we have so many needs in our region? Lot of people are dying left and right. In my region more specifically, Mr. Chair, just this past weekend we lost another young lady due to addiction. Mr. Chair, this is a very sensitive matter, and here we are. We're talking about $31 million that's on the books here. I understand that the federal government, $24 million -- I don't know why we need to bundle everything together. It's a federal approach where everything is bundled so even though you are against certain items, either you vote for the budget or your vote against it. I feel very uncomfortable with this going forward. I support other issues are on this supplementary with the exception of this COVID secretariat.
Mr. Chair, I'm getting a lot of feedback from my region and also surrounding the North, whether that be emails, phone calls, and people are still confused. Why are we supporting this COVID secretariat? We're talking about $87 million today. I'd be surprised if it's still the same number in the next few years as we approach this ordeal with the whole COVID secretariat. I just don't understand why we were pushing forward as a government. In my view, it's the cart before the horse. There was no engagement with the leadership when it was first created. Yes, I understand the Premier says, after the fact, we started talking to Aboriginal groups. We don't operate that way.
Mr. Chair, this is a general statement, but I do have a motion coming after Members speak to this. I'd like to know why the Premier, the Cabinet, is ignoring the public outcry and continuing to push this secretariat. The $31 million that's before us today, the public don't want it. Obviously, we don't want it. We want more housing. We want more addictions after-care program, deal with our homelessness. As soon as you walk out this door, we have so many homeless people, our people. So many of them are from my region I'm trying to deal with. We haven't identified money for them. Homeless people, yes, they're talking about a shelter, but to put another $31 million towards this COVID secretariat, 150 people that would be working for us. People are shaking their heads. People that I talk to, anyway.
Mr. Chair, it's very frustrating sitting here to deal with this matter that we're pushing this supplementary ahead without any engagement of the public. I'd like to know what the public view is on the secretariat. The leadership, not everybody's on board. Not all mayors are on board, but we're still pushing through. Mr. Chair, I'm kind of running out of time, but we've heard over and over, housing, homelessness, it's a real issue. Here we're talking about co-investment. Still talking about maybe hiring a person, we should have been proactive to say, well the whole secretariat, the $87 million, before that discussion even took place, that co-investment should have been the first priority in my view, taking advantage of $60 million, 75 percent from the federal government, 25 percent from us. No, here we are still talking about it. Are we going to miss the opportunity?
Mr. Chair, I don't want to add more to it because I have already talked about this on numerous occasions now, and I do have a motion that will speak to it, as well. Yes, I will leave it at that. It's a statement to the government that this is unacceptable. From the discussion around the table, obviously, this is going to go ahead with the supplementals, but it will be a recorded vote, so I would like to know who all stands for the government. Mr. Chair, that is it for me until I present a motion on this. Masi.
Mr. Chair, I'm not sure how Members feel that this is not an important matter. We're talking about $8.7 million here. New money. If nobody else is going to speak to it, I want to close it off by saying that this has been an ongoing issue since March, and then the secretariat came in in August. We need to have a coordinated approach. We always have that at the beginning, and I felt that it was the best approach amongst other departments.
The Member alluded to me attacking the Premier. It's the Premier's job to defend the government. I'm asking and I'm pointing facts to the Premier. I'm not attacking the Premier personally. I'm attacking whoever the Premier's position is today. That's our job as MLAs, holding the government accountable. For that kind of money, we're going to throw at creating more jobs. Member says it's not a new department. It's a new established department. We never heard of it five years ago.
Mr. Chair, it's been stated in the House, as well, how much is one life worth? We have people dying on the streets. I can say that over and over. As soon as we walk out of here, we see people begging for homes, begging for food, and here, we're just going to pass $8.277 million like it's nothing. I have issues with that. I have people begging and pleading for housing, homeless people in my riding. We have lack of treatment services here in the Northwest Territories. We don't have any treatment centres in the Northwest Territories. After-care program lacking. Mr. Chair, it's very frustrating sitting here, but I just want to state my case that we're going to be voting on a motion here today. Obviously, the public will see how everybody votes today.
I just want to highlight some of the areas where I stand. Mr. Chair, I stand here before you in principle of this motion. The right thing to do for our territory, we should be redirecting that $8.2 million from the secretariat, the new money, to a co-investment fund or others that are highlighted, homelessness, housing, healthcare. It just makes sense, Mr. Chair.
Today, obviously, I will vote for housing for our most vulnerable, our homeless population in the North. I will vote for housing units which is the state of emergency across the North. That's a real story here. I vote for more treatment facilities, services, after-care programs, on-the-land programs. We are losing lives. As I stated earlier, over the weekend, I lost another young individual my son's age. That's hurting, Mr. Chair. It's hurting the community. It's hurting me as the representative for a region. We need to turn our attention to them. Let's save their lives. Their lives matter more than the secretariat.
Mr. Chair, I just want to close off by saying: I will not be, obviously, voting for the whole COVID secretariat supplementary that's before us, the $31 million. We must think about our most vulnerable people in the North. I'm not sure how else I can convince the Members, but they've already made up their mind. I'll be voting for the people of the North, to vote against the secretariat establishment, the $31 million plus overall next four years of $87 million towards the secretariat. That money should be better off spent elsewhere, where it's badly, badly needed. We hear it every day. We address it in the House almost every day. This secretariat just appeared, and it's before us now. On that motion, Mr. Chair, I would request a recorded vote, so I'd like to know where people stand, either with the government or for the people. Masi.
The Member for Monfwi, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
All those opposed to the motion, please stand.
The Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Nunakput.
Anyone abstaining please stand. The motion: four in favour of the motion; 12 opposed to the motion; and no abstentions. The motion is defeated.
---Defeated
Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021, Department of Health and Social Services, COVID secretariat, not previously authorized, $31,677,000. Member for Yellowknife North.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 15, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2020, be read for the third time, and, Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The Member for Hay River North, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the vote: 16 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstaintions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
