WHEREAS the Elections and Plebiscites Act provides for the appointment of a Chief Electoral Officer who has the responsibility to exercise general direction and supervision over the administrative conduct of an election and enforce, on the part of all election officers, fairness, impartiality and compliance with the Elections and Plebiscites Act;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that this Legislative Assembly, by virtue of Section 5 of the Elections and Plebiscites Act, recommends to the Commissioner the appointment of Ms. Nicole Latour of Yellowknife as Chief Electoral Officer for the Northwest Territories for a term of four years commencing November 1, 2014.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. David Brock for all his time and effort. It was a pleasure working with him and I wish him well in his future endeavours.
I would also like to thank Ms. Nicole Latour and I look forward to working with her in the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to take a second to thank David Brock for his service to the House and to the residents of the Northwest Territories. He is a consummate professional. I wish him well in his future endeavours, and I am very happy to see a local woman become the new Chief Electoral Officer here in the Northwest Territories, a proud moment for our territory and a proud moment for Ms. Latour.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize and thank Mr. David Brock for his hard work, his expertise and commitment to equality and fairness in this House as well as his professionalism and also giving sound direction to the way we run business here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours, and I would like to welcome Nicole Latour and I look forward to working with you in the years to come. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to join in the chorus of thanking Mr. Brock for his service. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. I found him to be the consummate professional, and he eventually made life easier during the last election when we had the issues that we had to deal with. So, thank you, Mr. Brock, for your service and best wishes on whatever your next endeavours are, and I would like to welcome Ms. Latour to the position. It’s great to have another female in a leadership position. We need lots more. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wish to use the occasion to wish Mr. Brock well and certainly on his journey that he will be taking. His next steps are unknown to most of us. So let me just say that wherever you go, I am sure you will do a fine job as well.
Mr. Speaker, this also gives me the occasion to welcome Ms. Nicole Latour. Many of us have known her for many years. We have known what great work she did here at the Legislature but we also know her reputation as being a very tough and hard, straight shooter, as she is well known as. If you have ever dealt with Ms. Latour, you will know she’s tough. So, many of us look forward to dealing with her in the future.
It also gives me great pride that, as MLA Bisaro just pointed out, we now have yet another female in a leadership role. What a fantastic milestone we have crossed. I think it is a great thing that it continues; it is something that needs to be certainly recognized. But something that hasn’t been said here today, to my knowledge, is Ms. Latour is now, I believe, the first Aboriginal woman to take this type of leadership role in Canada. I think that is a special distinction that we should honour. So, Mr. Speaker, let it not be the last of many types of appointments like this. I certainly hope it is sort of the kicking of the doors of the new way of doing business. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Bouchard.
