Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today. That is the motion for mandatory vaccination, Mr. Speaker.
---Unanimous consent granted.
The motion of requirement of proof of full vaccination by Members of the Legislative Assembly, I will read this again, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS COVID-19 is a communicable disease which has and continues to put the lives and livelihoods of residents of the Northwest Territories at risk;
AND WHEREAS the chief public health officer of the Northwest Territories has recommended that all eligible residents become fully vaccinated;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories and Canada have adopted vaccine policies to encourage eligible individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 virus and whereas elected representatives, Members of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly are expected to hold themselves to a high standard of conduct and set an example;
AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly retains the right to control its own proceedings according to the privileges or practices and procedures of the Assembly or parliament;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member of Hay River North, that each Member of this Legislative Assembly must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to attending and participating in a sitting of this House, its committees, or any proceeding of the Assembly;
AND FURTHER, that a Member who is fully vaccinated where two weeks have passed since the person's final dose of COVID-19 vaccine approved by Health Canada has since been administered;
AND FURTHERMORE, that Members must provide the Speaker proof of full vaccination status prior to attending and participating in a sitting of this House, its committees, or any proceeding of this Assembly;
AND FURTHERMORE, that a Member who has provided a valid medical exemption from vaccination to the Speaker may, at the discretion of the relevant presiding officer, participate in a sitting, committee meeting, or other proceeding in the Assembly remotely;
AND FURTHERMORE, that this motion takes effect at the start of the first sitting day after this motion has been passed and continues until the current session is prorogued or is formally rescinded by the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Look, I know it's all been -- it's been a very long day for all of us but I think it's really important to go on the public record as supporting this motion and what it's really all about.
So the board of management that governs the Legislative Assembly, the employees and so on, we already have a policy for the building itself so that anybody who enters the building, including contractors now, have to be fully vaccinated.
What this motion is about is about whether MLAs have to be vaccinated to enter into the building for committee work and sittings of the House. That's what this motion is all about because the only ones that -- the only authority to tell us what to do as Members of this House is the House itself, and that's what this motion is doing, is saying that we have to be fully vaccinated to be allowed to come in for committee meetings and for the sittings of the House.
I want to note for the record, Mr. Speaker, that this actually sets a higher standard than the GNWT vaccination policy as there are no allowances or accommodations for someone who refuses to get vaccinated. If MLAs refuse to get vaccinated, and I don't believe there's anybody like that in this House, they cannot get PPE and regular testing and come in here. Their only option is to participate remotely, which the rules of the Assembly now allow for.
So in any event, we're holding ourselves to a higher standard than the GNWT policy. I support this strongly, and I'm sure I would ask for a recorded vote, and I'm sure we're going to get unanimous support for this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
