Debates of October 26, 2006 (day 16)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier. It is in follow-up to the Member’s statement and the questions raised by my colleague from Hay River South. I think we have seen in this House that Members take very seriously any indication or any sense of intimidation or any pressure put off on us unduly for doing our job as a Member, which is to speak on behalf of the constituents that we represent but also for the people of the NWT and the bigger picture of upholding the basic principles of democracy, Mr. Speaker. I was encouraged to hear from the Premier that he also agrees with that notion and that it is important that the Members can speak freely in this House. I heard him, in answering questions to Mrs. Groenewegen, in fact, if he knew of any situations like that, that the government will police that or will be engaged in…I can’t remember exactly how he said it, but make sure that that doesn’t happen. So I would like to ask the Premier what he has done as Premier to make sure, in fact, any policy, guideline, directive, any statements he has made to make sure that the people out there understand that we have a consensus government and the government takes its rules seriously in making sure that people understand that we cannot be intimidated? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the public expects that we are going to be fair to everybody as a government, that we all have equal rights in this Legislative Assembly. From the day I first let my name stand as Premier, I made it clear that that is the way that I was going to operate. I don’t have the exact wording of my statement in this House following my appointment as Premier, but I operate that way. We have talked about it in Cabinet. Certainly, from our side, there will be no tolerance of intimidation of Members, and I expect the same is true for everybody in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we saw last week, apparently it is not in practice. People have forgotten. I hear from the Premier’s answer that there hasn’t been any direct statement to either the staff or to the public or anybody who is interested in knowing about this that says that we are a consensus government and that we, as a government, respect the Members’ rights. Would the Premier make a commitment to do such a thing in a directive or policy way of any kind of document that he sees fit? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Mr. Speaker, I want to think about how we would do it, the best way of doing it. Certainly, in letters to Ministers, that has happened. If the Members feel there is a need to come out with some kind of public statement, then, yes, I will take that into consideration. I am not sure what would be the best way of doing that, but, as I say, Mr. Speaker, I expect that the public believes that we operate fairly in this government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe, within this House and outside, I don’t think there is that clear understanding that people understand that this is a House of free speech and that it is the Members’ jobs to criticize the Premier and the Ministers if and where necessary. That is not happening at all. I would like to ask the Premier, would he put that into paper and maybe he should do an announcement in the paper to let the people know that we hold this very important? Would he be willing to take that commitment, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we were all sworn in, we did pledge an oath of office. We all have to abide by that. We all have to abide by the rules of the House. Everybody has a right to critique, to criticize, to comment on Ministers, on the Premier, on performance. I think the public expects no less. Mr. Speaker, I need more information about is somebody putting pressure on someone. I don’t know. Of course, the public always has the right to make their comments to each of us too, and we have to respect that. Mr. Speaker, I want to think about how we would convey this kind of message and so on to the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, he lost a Cabinet Minister last week because Members felt intimidated. I believe, Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if everybody knows. I would really like it if he could just repeat what he just said and if he could just do a public notice telling the people that, in fact, that is the case; that we all have to operate under the atmosphere of freedom and freedom from intimidation. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 200-15(5): Speaking Of Matters Of Accountability And Integrity

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t repeat exactly what I said. My message is that we all have signed an oath. We all have responsibilities. We all know what the rules of the House are or know where to find the rules if we are unsure, and we all operate with respect, but we all have the right to criticize positions taken by one another. Certainly Members have a right to comment on Cabinet’s performance, whether it is individual Ministers, the Cabinet as a group or the Premier or whatever. That is all part of the democratic process. Mr. Speaker, we respect that. If we violate that, then we know there are consequences. In fact, Ms. Lee referred to the incident last week. That is a good example of how the system works and why it works if there is a suggestion of intimidation.

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, in terms of going beyond my statement today saying, yes, we operate this way and the good old days of whatever they were before are not tolerated anymore. We operate in an open way, whether it is capital or business planning or question period or whatever it may be. We will maintain that as a government. In terms of putting out a public notice, Mr. Speaker, I want to think about how we would do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.