Good morning, Members-elect. My name is Tim Mercer. I am the Clerk of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, and until such time as you have elected a speaker it falls upon me to preside over your deliberations today and until the 25th of October.
I am joined at the table today by Deputy Clerk Glen Rutland, to my right, and Deputy Clerk Kim Wickens, to my left. On behalf of the staff of the Legislative Assembly, I want to take this opportunity to formally congratulate each of you on your recent election to the 19th Legislative Assembly.
This is an historic gathering. For the first time in the history of the Northwest Territories, and indeed the history of our country, the residents of the Northwest Territories have elected a gender-balanced Legislative Assembly.
The United Nations have identified 30 percent as the critical threshold of representation for women to have a significant and lasting impact on the policy decisions and outcomes of government. The 18th Legislative Assembly set a goal of achieving this 30 percent threshold by 2027. As a result of your efforts, we have broken through and surpassed that threshold eight years ahead of schedule.
---Applause
One of the fundamental aspects of consensus government is that all 19 Members, regardless of the positions they eventually hold in this place, have a meaningful and active role to play in setting
the priorities for an incoming Legislative Assembly. Of course, this doesn't mean that all of your individual priorities will ultimately form part of the overall priorities of the 19th Assembly. After all, priorities are about making tough choices, but each of you has an equal role to play in determining what those priorities will ultimately be.
Today is the second step in the priority-setting process. The first step, of course, was the election campaign that each of you has successfully come through. Today is the time to speak not only to your future constituents, but also to your new colleagues in the Legislative Assembly and, indeed, all of the people of the Northwest Territories.
The next step in the priority-setting process will be a public meeting of northern Indigenous and community government leaders, to be held at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre in Yellowknife on October 17th.
According to the schedule you adopted yesterday, your priorities will be released to the public on your first formal sitting day, October 25, 2019. Once established, it will fall to the newly appointed Cabinet to build a mandate or an action plan to implement these priorities over the next four years and beyond.
Members-elect, the questions that you have been asked to speak to today are as follows: where would you like to see the Northwest Territories at the end of your four-year term? Where would you like to see it in 10 years? What specific actions do you feel the 19th Legislative Assembly should take to achieve this vision?
Today's meeting is open to the public and is being broadcast on the Legislative Assembly television network, as well as on various social media outlets. Your proceedings will be interpreted into the following languages:
- On channel 2, the Tlicho language;
- On channel 3, Chipewyan;
- On channel 4, South Slavey;
- On channel 5, North Slavey;
- On Channel 6, Inuvialuktun;
- On channel 7, Inuktitut; and
- On channel 8, French.
To listen in English, please leave your headsets set to channel 1.
You have agreed to limit your speeches today to 15 minutes. There is no need to use all of this time, and I will not interrupt you if you go beyond the 15 minutes. However, I do ask that you be mindful of the number of Members who wish to speak today and the limited time available to us.
I would ask that, when you deliver your speeches, you please stand.
We will take a break at about 10:30 a.m. this morning and break again for lunch at noon, resuming at 1:00 p.m. I expect we will be finished by no later than 4:00 p.m. today.
Members, we have Pages in the Chamber today to assist you with delivering messages to one another, transferring documents, and, if you need your water glasses refilled, they will assist you with that, as well.
You have agreed to make your presentations today in alphabetical order by constituency name. This means that we will commence with the Member-elect for Deh Cho, Mr. Bonnetrouge. Following Mr. Bonnetrouge, we will go in alphabetical order by constituency name, but we may need to jump around a little bit, as certain Members need to be away from the Chamber today to attend a judicial recount that is taking place off-site.
Thank you, Members-elect. We are now ready to proceed. Mr. Bonnetrouge, the floor is yours.