Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, today I am appearing before committee of the whole to provide comments on Bill 15 which amends the act that administers elections of Members to the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Chairman, this bill is one of those bills that is not the sole responsibility of the government to sponsor. Amendments to the Elections Act fall under the responsibility of the whole of the Legislative Assembly.

The amendments proposed in this bill were recommendations for changes to the Elections Act made to the Legislative Assembly by the chief electoral officer after the 1991 general election. These recommendations were based on observations by the 24 returning officers, the NWT elections office in Yellowknife and the chief electoral officer's staff in Ottawa. The report of the chief electoral officer contained 10 recommendations in the following areas:

1. date of election;

2. enumeration;

3. voting by mail-in ballot;

4. inmate voting;

5. advance polls;

6. advance poll registration;

7. revisions of the list of electors;

8. election officials;

9. election financing; and,

10. control of elections.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to indicate the process that was followed after the receipt of the chief electoral officer's report. The recommendations were reviewed in detail by the Management and Services Board, who provided direction for the preparation of a report to Caucus which contained recommendations for changes to the act. As Members will recall, the report was presented to Caucus by the Speaker on August 19, 1994, and was agreed to with the exception of the recommendation on the implementation of a special ballot system. The results of the Caucus direction are contained in the bill before you today.

Mr. Chairman, Bill 15 contains a number of major amendments to the Elections Act and a number of consequential amendments that are required to support the major amendments. There are also a number of technical amendments relating to advance polls, election officials and the reporting of campaign financing. Mr. Chairman, as indicated, the significant amendments contained in this bill relate firstly to allowing the chief electoral officer to set the period of enumeration which could be carried out prior to the issuing of the writ of election. Secondly, Mr. Chairman, one that the Honourable Sam Gargan has raised on a number of occasions and that was also a recommendation of the chief electoral officer, relates to the permitting of inmates serving sentences of less than two years to vote in an election.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my introductory remarks to Bill 15 and I would like to seek the assistance of witnesses in order that I can answer any questions that you may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.