Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on many occasions in this House I have spoken about the need for made-in-the-North whistle-blower protection legislation. The general idea is that such legislation would allow the employees or contractors, or even the general public of the NWT, legislative protection from adverse consequences to their employment and economic security or other repercussions for speaking out about government's action or inaction. As I have noted on many occasions, in a small jurisdiction like this where virtually everyone knows everyone else, or is somehow connected by everyone who they play sports with or work and do business with, this is especially an important and necessary protection to have. I believe it's in the interest of good government and a society that values accountability and transparency like ours, that this government takes a leadership role in this area.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, I was very encouraged to hear from the Premier and the Minister on the other side last fall that the government had begun working on this initiative. On October 20th, the Honourable Floyd Roland, then Minister of Human Resources at the time, said the following: "As the Premier stated and comments raised in this House by Members, the whistle-blower legislation portion has been discussed a number of times. The Member for Range Lake has made this an issue on a number of occasions and we have taken that and begun to work on it. I am, very shortly, going to be presenting my Cabinet colleagues with the beginnings of a discussion paper and then, if I get approval at that stage, I will be coming to the Members with that discussion paper and see from there if we go out for public discussion on that basis, and then from there begin preparation on legislation."
Mr. Speaker, four months later and with the time of this Assembly running out, I haven't yet seen any indication that this initiative is moving along. I would also, therefore, Mr. Speaker, like to take this opportunity to remind the government that they live up to their commitment and release a discussion paper for public debate as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause