Amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act.
WHEREAS this Legislative Assembly appointed an Electoral Boundaries Commission pursuant to section 2(1)(b) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, on June 3rd, 2021;
AND WHEREAS the Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021 submitted its final report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on May 24th, 2022;
AND WHEREAS the Speaker tabled the final report of the Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021 on May 27th, 2022;
AND WHEREAS there is a desire to review the names of certain electoral districts in the Northwest Territories;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, second by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Legislative Assembly recommends that amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act be introduced during the life of this Legislative Assembly to:
Allow for the establishment of an Electoral Boundaries Commission within 18 months after the day fixed for the return of the writs for the 2023 election and subsequently for each second succeeding general election; and,
Increase the composition of future Electoral Boundaries Commissions from a chairperson and two other members to a chairperson and four other Members.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife North.
Yeah, thank you, Madam Speaker. I would just like to rise in support of this motion. I you know, absent legislation being passed in the remaining time in this Assembly, it looks like we're heading into an election with the same boundaries, which I think we all know have some discrepancies in population. And, you know, I don't think it's right for us to wait another eight years to then adjust those again. So by moving this up an Assembly, adding some more members and some better representation, hopefully the next Assembly can have a report and pass one of the recommendations in there.
I also you know, originally when this electoral boundaries came out, there was some questions prescribed to it, such as election of the Premier, makeup of Cabinet, how we select Cabinet, and I think a number of kind of questions of consensus government that it was this Assembly's hope to tackle, and certainly if you add or remove Members, those questions, they come into play because it changes the balance on either side of the House. So it's my hope that by striking a more representative Electoral Boundaries Commission earlier, they can look at the boundaries, they can look at the issues and name changes that are coming up presently in the House, and they can look at, you know, some of these other issues of consensus government that I think was our hope to get to but are long overdue and have perhaps caused some frustration amongst Members. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
DEPUTY SPEAKER:
Carried
Member for Sahtu.
