Mr. Speaker, at the earliest opportunity I rise on a point of order from the events of yesterday’s Committee of the Whole discussions, under section 23(i) of our Rules of the Legislative Assembly, where a Member imputes false or hidden motives to another Member.
Yesterday in Committee of the Whole Mrs. Groenewegen, in the unedited Hansard of Wednesday, October 8, 2008, page 62, in questioning the Finance Minister, asked this question: “was the MLA who approved the negotiated contract the MLA for Inuvik, the Premier and the Chair of the Finance Management Board?”
Mr. Speaker, I would say that in her line of questioning leading up to that event, it’s quite clear that Mrs. Groenewegen is threading the needle, as I would put it, in pointing out that as the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake signed a letter supporting the negotiated contract in the last Assembly — and in this Assembly for the first eight months I was the Chair of the Financial Management Board and the Premier; I believe the only one in the history of the Northwest Territories — by putting that line of questioning out there, she has tried to, in fact…. I would feel that this is written now forever in the record books: that she’s imputing a motive on my behalf that I had a position to make something happen.
I must set the record straight, Mr. Speaker, that yes, I did sign a letter of support for that negotiated contract, but I also followed the rules for declaring a conflict of interest at any subsequent moment.
Mr. Speaker, under 23(i) I would say that Mrs. Groenewegen and her line of questioning leading up to page 62 was questioning my motives and my position as the Member with authority in that particular project.