Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to briefly set the context of our committee, Madam Chair. Before I get into that, I would like to recognize in the gallery today our Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Glen McLean.
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Madam Chair, the Rules and Procedures committee accepted on behalf of the Legislative Assembly, the report of the Chief Electoral Officer earlier last year. Accordingly, we took the report to the public for a response. Two public hearings were held and the views of Members were sought into four recommendations that were put forward. There were some very constructive ones on the overall impact and quality and calibre of elections and how we can better use our system to help with election events. One of those recommendations, Madam Chair, was to look at sharing our resources and the office of the Chief Electoral Officer with community governments to help them run their governments.
Madam Chair, we also have a recommendation before us to join up the CEO's office along with Education, Culture and Employment and develop a web-based educational site to promote the way elections work and how important they are, especially directed, Madam Chair, at young people.
The CEO brought forward the recommendation that the Elections Act itself should undergo a comprehensive review and consolidation. It is a piece of legislation, Madam Chair, that has been amended and tweaked several times over the course of the years. Some things are getting a little out of sync and a review is warranted.
But, Madam Chair, the most prominent recommendation is that the NWT should go to a fixed election date as something that would level the playing field among candidates. That would bring more stability and predictability and consistency to the way government runs and the way elections are going to be run. This is indeed the first of these four committee motions, Madam Chair, that have already been read into the record at a different point in our orders, Madam Chair. So I'm prepared to move these motions for committee's consideration and debate. So that will end my remarks, Madam Chair, and I look forward to see if other Members have any general
comments before proceeding with the motions. Thank you.