Thank you, Madam Speaker. For the past several weeks, I've been doing research on the issue of the recall of MLAs. A Gallup poll during February of this year indicated that 75 per cent of Canadians favoured recall. When I first examined the history of recall, I found that objections to recall were based on the fears of abuse by various sectors of the public. Most elected people were against recall because it could be abused by various powerful interest groups. There seemed to be no proposal which provided safeguards that elected people would feel comfortable with.
Although I initially had doubts about recall, and especially about writing recall legislation which would satisfy both the public and politicians, I now believe that recall legislation is both desirable and possible in the Northwest Territories. Across the country, we see political parties adopting codes of conduct and ethics but with no means for Members to be removed if they no longer have the trust of the people who elected them. Governments are reluctant to enact legislation because it could be used against politicians by the vested interests of the rich, powerful or very well-organized interest groups. If politicians don't bow to their demands, they could become the object of recall.
The solution, of course, Madam Speaker, is to find some way of fixing the flaw since recall is a clearly desirable mechanism if appropriate safeguards can be established. I believe that this is possible. I hope to table in the Legislature a paper on recall which I believe will convince Members that recall is both desirable and necessary. I would ask Members to be open-minded about it and request that it be put on the agenda of our strategic workshop in Fort Smith in April. Thank you.
---Applause