Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken many times about setting up an office of the ombudsman in the NWT to help our residents with their complaints about government and government services.
In almost all jurisdictions across Canada, the ombudsman actually helps solve problems and prevent them from winding up in court battles that our residents definitely can’t afford. But there’s been very little interest in this service from the current executive of our government. So I feel this Assembly has missed a great opportunity.
Elsewhere in Canada the ombudsman mission, as defined by law, is an impartial investigator of residents’ complaints. An NWT ombudsman act would require government officials and staff to cooperate and provide information to the ombudsman. She or he would be able to deal with almost any matter relating to government. That’s particularly important in situations where other legislation does not provide for an appeal mechanism. There are many instances where no appeal mechanism exists, and our MLAs here are aware of many of those. Some of them are health issues, residential tenancy problems, helping seniors, student financial assistance issues. The list goes on.
Part of the ombudsman’s job is to maintain a high profile so that people know they have someone to go to when they don’t know what else to do, when they feel they’ve exhausted all their options for a solution for their problem. Considering how spread out our territory is and the limited assistance available in our smaller communities, an ombudsman would be a great help to a number of our residents.
Across the country, ombudsmen have an excellent record of having their decisions and reports accepted by their government. That, to me, is a very good measure of their effectiveness.
I’ve urged the Justice Minister to look into this issue several times. There are lots of working models across Canada which have led the way for us. We should draw on their experience.
Today, by way of this statement, I am asking the Minister of Justice to recommend to his successor that the next government get the job done for the people of the NWT and establish an office of an ombudsman. There could be a bonus in it, Mr. Speaker. It might work out so well that it actually saves our government money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
