This is page numbers 3073 - 3114 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was languages.

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Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscite Act be amended to permit a designate of the Chief Electoral Officer to be present at a polling station and/or recount. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. The motion is in order.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscite Act be amended to permit only one person representing the candidate or the candidate to be presiding during the count of ballots. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. The motion is on order. Discussion? Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am just wondering what the rationale for this is. Because if you had five or six polling divisions in your riding,

you would want one person at each of the counting stations when the votes are being counted, so I am just wondering what the rationale for limiting it to one person or the candidate is. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. Mr. Ramsay. To the motion. Anything further to the motion? Committee, thank you, we’ll come back to here. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is to represent one official from each camp at one individual box at a polling station, in the greater polling station, so there could be multiple boxes and, therefore, there could be a representative at each box. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you. Mr. Hawkins. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscite Act be amended to restrict the attendance of a candidate at the polling station except to vote and for a brief visit during the polling hours. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I actually have some problems with this motion as it is written. I am not sure what it means when they say a candidate at the polling station except to vote and for a brief visit. I am not sure why any candidate would want to make a brief visit into the polling station during polling hours, so I have a motion to amend that I would like to make.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Motion to amend.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the Committee Motion 16-(3) be amended by deleting the word “at” and substituting

the word “in”, and further that the words “for brief visits during the polling hours” be deleted. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. I believe this motion is being distributed. Okay, committee. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to vote in favour of the amendment. I believe strongly that a candidate, in and of themselves, is the biggest advertising that they can do. We don’t allow advertising in the polling station, and when a candidate is present in a polling station, even though they are not wearing a button or any other propaganda, they, by virtue of being in the polling station, are advertising their election and there is something about that that doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t believe that a candidate has any place in a polling station other than to vote and I think that it has to be crystal clear, and I think that if we left “and for brief visits during the day” in there, that’s open to interpretation and I don’t think the Chief Electoral Officer has to interpret whether it’s five minutes, 15 minutes or 20 minutes or whether somebody’s candidate is hanging out in the foyer, shaking hands of people in their way in or on their way out. So I am glad the amendment is there and I am going to vote in favour of it. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the amendment. Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also would like to speak in favour of this motion and I guess the election legislation not only for the NWT but I believe for the federal election too, are very clear about not having any signs, buttons, T-shirts, whatsoever that would express a particular candidate. I was thinking the same thing when Mr. Ramsay said there is no clear picture of the candidate, even more than a button than the candidate, him or herself. It’s just really strange to me when legislation prohibits even a display of signs within certain restricted areas, that we would not have a restriction of a candidate going into a polling station other than to vote. Candidates in the federal election, too, are allowed to have a number of agents and workers to scrutinize or whatever. So there is no question about candidates’ work being done through agents or a third party that they appoint, but I really think restricting -- and actually I would be interested in what is the main motion as to restricting -- but I will support this motion and I would also like to put on legislation be reviewed to make sure candidates are restricted in access as much as, if not more than, buttons and signs. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Next I have Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, I would hope that people would vote

against this motion because what I think it does clearly is it has a negative impact on being a candidate by being able to drop people off. If you are a candidate and you are called upon by an elder or a senior to bring those folks to the centre to vote, or whether it’s a community hall or community centre or whatnot, even though the polling station is buried within that building, you’re negatively impacted by bringing them up and into the entranceway. You would be violating this process and the rule by dropping them off. So without that clear definition, you would be in violation right then and there. So that’s why.

Now, can you imagine applying this Yellowknife sort of style of rule to a community when in a small community you don’t have the election machine to help organize and to go call two or three or 80 of your scrutineers to go pick up people?

So, again, it’s one of those things. You take away the grassroots element of an election ability of the candidate. On top of that, the reason the concept of brief visits came forward, it’s on the basis of the wording used in Alberta, and in Alberta the principle is you can bring people and drop them off. It’s meant to be reflective of “You Don’t Camp Out” at the station. You can bring people, drop them off and return them.

If I can further that with nowhere else including the federal government law through Elections Canada restricts candidates for dropping people off. This would now take a new unparalleled approach on how to do this. So ultimately, if people are worried about candidates campaigning, well that already exists, those laws. You cannot campaign whether you wear a button or not. You cannot campaign at a polling station anyway. So ultimately those rules already exist. This will now stop somebody from dropping folks off. So rules exist already and I would hope that Members of the Assembly here would consider committee’s recommendation to allow candidates to drop off voters and allow them to do their voting business and then be able to return them. Outside of this, it sort of sets up a premise that as a candidate, if I got phoned and asked if I could bring someone there, I would have to drop them off around the corner because I would be embarrassed to be seen in the area of dropping somebody off. I think it’s a very insulting process. If you are a small campaign, this significantly works against you.

As far as the incumbent factor, I have to say I disagree, only because the fact is you are never going to completely eliminate that no matter how you do this. This is based on an element of the candidate has the right to be able to drop people off and this motion or this amendment will negatively impact that. I don’t think you will see it as bad in Yellowknife, but you will see it horribly in the communities when, like I said, you have very few

volunteers and scrutinizers and whatnot to do those things. The candidate really needs, in a grassroots way, to do a lot of the work and this takes away that function. You are going to see an impact that way. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Next I have, to the amendment, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am fully in favour of the amendment to this recommendation to this motion. I have to disagree with my colleague, Mr. Hawkins. I don’t think this is going to have much of an impact at all on any candidate who wishes to drive voters to the polling station. I’d like to point out that the word that probably has the most impact in this motion is that we are saying “in” the polling station. So the candidate has to be absolutely within the inside of the polling station and most polling stations are in a community hall, they are in a gymnasium in a school. That does not restrict the candidate from picking up the voter, driving them to the front door of the community hall, they get out, they go do their vote, the candidate waits for them and drives them back to wherever they picked them up from. So I don’t see it to be as restrictive as Mr. Hawkins would lead us to believe.

I think most of the complaints that have had to be investigated by the Chief Electoral Officer in the last several elections have had to do with candidates in or around or close to a polling station and, as somebody pointed out, hanging out and shaking hands with voters as they arrive. So I think this is going to clarify some of the grey areas that we’ve had in and around polling stations and I fully support the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.