Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice, who conveniently is also the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, transparency and openness has been an overarching theme of political life in the NWT through the past Assembly and last fall's election. This Assembly has taken steps to recognize and address those themes. One important way we did that is enshrined in the commitment 5.3.11 of the mandate document that identifies a commitment to developing legislation within two years to establish an Office of an Ombudsman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if the Department of Justice has begun the work referenced in that commitment to develop the legislation to establish an independent parliamentary office of the ombudsman. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is committed to fulfilling the priorities developed by the 18th Assembly, including exploring options for the creation of the position of ombudsman. The Department of the Executive and the Department of Justice are working together to develop options for the establishment of this position. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to go on with my questions, but quite frankly, I have to stop and ask for clarification from the Minister. Can the Minister elaborate a little bit more for us on what exploring options actually consists of?
I am pleased to do so, Mr. Speaker. There is work underway to develop materials to support a discussion by the caucus. We are having a summer meeting where this is one of the issues that is to be discussed, so we are exploring options. There are many different models in Canada. As the Member quite correctly pointed out, there are nine provinces, all of them except Prince Edward Island, I think, and the Yukon that have developed this position. However, the position is different in every jurisdiction. We need to look at options and decide which models we wish to follow. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that a draft Ombudsman Act was prepared on behalf of the Members of the 17th Assembly and was tabled in this House. I think in that effort, there were probably a lot of options considered. Can the Minister advise whether the department intends to use that act to inform this work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes. There was a draft proposal which was prepared in the last Assembly which I had the opportunity of reading, but I believe that the first step would be for us all to decide which model we wish to follow, and at that point, legislation will be brought forward.
As I mentioned earlier, there are many different models. There is the Quebec model for one, which is a very extensive, expensive model, and others that are more limited. The cost has been found to be between perhaps half a million dollars at the minimum and multi-millions of dollars at the maximum. It's to be determined whether we will follow the model, and I haven't reviewed that draft piece of legislation lately, but that is perhaps one of the models that we may follow, but that is yet to be determined. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and what I gather from the Minister is that there is a lot of work yet to be done. Mr. Speaker, how will the Minister commit to keeping Members of the Assembly apprised of the progress that this legislation is required? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Well, of course part of that will be determined by our discussions this summer, and of course, I will keep the House apprised. We will keep the House apprised as the legislation moves forward. We are hoping to look at a series of options in the summer, choose the best option, and that would be reflected in the legislation that we will bring to this House. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
