Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of the Legislative Assembly may recall that I introduced a motion on July 3, 1991, which urged the Minister of Justice to refer the prohibition against inmates voting contained in our legislation to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories so that the court could determine whether the prohibition was constitutional. At that time, a number of lower level courts had determined that similar provisions in other jurisdictions contravened the Charter right that guarantees every citizen of Canada the right to vote in an election for Members of the House of Commons or the Legislative Assembly.
At that time, Mr. Speaker, we were facing a territorial election, and I believed that it was important that the courts ruled on the issue before an election, rather than during an election and risk disrupting the entire election process. The motion was defeated, Mr. Speaker, much to my dismay.
We are fortunate that no challenge was launched by inmates during the last territorial election. A challenge could have seriously disrupted the entire election and, I believe, based on recent court decisions, would have been successful.
Very recently, Mr. Speaker, yet another high level court decision was released which held that a similar provision of the Ontario Elections Act was unconstitutional. The Ontario Court of Appeal, in the case of Sauve vs Attorney General of Canada, hold the prohibition unconstitutional saying that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms confirms "that the right to vote must be protected against those who have the capacity, and often the interest, to limit the franchise."
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to bring to Members' attention the fact that the chief electoral officer, in Tabled Document 50-12(2), a report on our last election, has suggested that the Legislative Assembly may wish to review the issue of inmates' voting rights with a view to possible future amendments to the NWT Elections Act.
I am, today, calling on this government to recognize that our Elections Act contains a section which has been held unconstitutional by other courts and to take the wise advice of the chief electoral officer. I urge this government to correct this situation immediately and remove this ancient, outdated and unconstitutional prohibition. Thank you.
--Applause