Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of this House and NWT residents are all aware that every three or four years our communities hold elections for mayors and municipal councillors. These elections are governed by a piece of territorial legislation called the Local Authorities Elections Act, which is currently under discussion for possible changes and updates.

The NWT Association of Communities, representing all of our 33 communities, has been advocating for change to the Local Authorities Elections Act for many years. It needs to be brought up to date and made more efficient and workable.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, in the last six months or so, in conjunction

with a number of non-departmental representatives, has done some work on this outdated act and the department is proposing changes to the act and is looking for input.

What kind of changes are they? A possible shortening of the election period, which is currently seven weeks, down to anywhere from three to five weeks; allowing for alternate voting methods; allowing for more voting opportunities as voters now only have two days in which they can vote in comparison with up to two weeks for territorial elections in some ridings; allowing electronic vote counting; reconsideration of the process for tie votes and recounts; adding prohibitions on campaign advertising; allowing municipalities to require reporting of candidates’ campaign contributions; clarifying and expanding the powers of the chief municipal electoral officer; increasing offences and penalties related to election signs -- always a hot topic; and increasing fines for elections offences.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has had a discussion paper out for a couple of months now, but the opportunity for input ends soon; February 28th , to be exact. Anyone with an

interest in municipal elections should take advantage of MACA’s invitation to provide their ideas and help to shape the amendments to the act. As a former municipal politician, I know I will be providing my comments and I look forward to seeing the recommendations from this work in short order.