Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the latter part of January and early February, 1997, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Honourable Sam Gargan, referred a total of four items to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures. The committee was to discuss the amount of time allocated for both Members' statements and oral question period as proposed by the Member for Iqaluit, the reporting

procedures for an ad hoc or joint working groups as requested by the third person of the Ordinary Members' Caucus, and issues of order and decorum in the Legislative Assembly as directed by the Speaker. The standing committee met on February 6, 1997 to address these issues and finalize this report on October 10th, 1997.

First issue, Mr. Speaker, was Members' statements. The question before the committee on this particular issue was whether or not the existing two and a half minute time limit on Members' statements should be increased to three and a half minutes. While reviewing the issue, committee members noted that the existing time limit was the most generous of any legislature in the country. Members also noted that most other jurisdictions in Canada kept the total amount of time spent on this item each day, but the Northwest Territories' Legislative Assembly had no such restrictions. In addition to this, the committee recognizes that on any given day, a Member can ask for unanimous consent to have the two and a half minute time limit extended for his or her statement. Therefore, the standing committee on Rules and Procedures unanimously recommended that the maximum time allotted for a Member's statement remain unchanged at two and a half minutes.

The second item, Mr. Speaker, was the oral question period. The Standing Committee was asked to review the current 60 minute time allotment for oral question period and determine if there was a need to increase the limit to 90 minutes. While reviewing this issue, committee Members once again noted that the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly has one of the longest oral question periods in the country and identified that just as with Members' statements, any Member could request unanimous consent to extend question period beyond the 60 minutes allotted. However, committee Members did outline their frustration with the fact that in some cases, much of the 60 minutes is taken up by both lengthy preambles to the question and long drawn out answers. The committee felt that oral question period could be improved by encouraging the Speaker to play a more active role in ensuring that both questions and answers are succinct and to the point. The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures unanimously recommends that the current 60 minute time allotment for oral question period not be extended and further, that the committee supports the Speaker's strict application of the guidelines for oral questions and the rules of the Legislative Assembly.

Third topic was an ad hoc and joint working group reporting process. In recent months, Members of the Legislative Assembly have found it useful to establish an ad hoc and/or joint working groups to deal with specific issues that arise. However, the more open style of government, the new standing committee structure of the 13th Assembly and recent experiences with joint Minister and Member working groups have raised questions regarding who these groups report to, and where their authority is derived from? The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures noted that committees made up of both Members and Ordinary Members should be used only under particular circumstances. In order to eliminate confusion respecting authority and reporting requirements, the committee felt that this special joint committee should only be established as provided under Rule 88(1) of the Legislative Assembly which states: at any time the Assembly may appoint a Special Committee for any purpose or to consider any matter referred to it by the Assembly. The committee recognizes that motions to establish special committees include the terms of reference for that committee, and if there authority is derived from the House, they report to the House. Therefore, the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that joint committees only be established under section 88(1) of the rules of the Legislative Assembly and having been so established, such committees shall report directly to the Legislative Assembly. On the ad hoc and subcommittee and working groups, the committee knows that the authority to establish a subcommittee or a working group must be derived from an appropriate legislative body in order to maintain accountability and provide a means of recording the group's findings.

Therefore, the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommend the following as the most appropriate process: - ad hoc committee, working groups and subcommittees are struck by a standing committee to address specific issues - subordinate body meets and develops its report to the standing committee from which this authority is derived - the standing committee, at its pleasure, reviews and/or revises and adopts the report as deemed appropriate and under the authority vested in the standing committee as a body of the Legislature, the committee may present the report to the House.

On the question of order and decorum, Members' attire, this issue referred by the Speaker arose as a result of an incident in the House whereby a Member felt that the attire of another Member was offensive. The Standing Committee reviewed the section of the rules of the Legislative Assembly prior to recommending a mechanism to help deal with such situations.

Rule 12(9) states when in the Legislative Assembly, every Member shall be attired in native dress or in a manner appropriate to the dignity of the Assembly. During the discussions, Members soon discovered that to define native dress or in a manner appropriate would be almost impossible and instead suggested that the issue of appropriate attire be left to the prudent discretion of the Speaker.

The committee therefore recommends that the following process be established: if a Member is offended by the attire of another Member, he or she may bring the issue to the attention of the Speaker in writing, outlining the nature of the concern and requesting the Speaker's intervention. If, in the Speaker's opinion, an intervention is warranted, the Speaker would bring the matter to the Member's attention in writing and require that the Member retire from the Chamber and remove or replace the offending attire. Many Members feel that this would not only alleviate concerns with respect to what is and what is not native dress or appropriate attire, but will also preserve the Speaker's latitude in determining appropriate attire in accordance with tradition, custom and convention. Furthermore, the committee feels that this approach would preclude public debate on such issues and avoid embarrassment, embarrassing any particular Member.

Mr. Speaker, that concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures.

Therefore, I move, and seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Frame Lake that the report of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures be received by the Assembly and adopted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.