Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also rise to support this motion. I want to start by thanking my colleagues Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this forward. There has been, indeed, perpetual interest and discussion on this, and that discussion needs to be resolved. There is an obligation of government, clearly, to provide the full opportunity for their citizens’ voices to be heard. This is a proven mechanism, and clearly across Canada there is good recognition of the need to fill this responsibility. We would certainly be consistent with them in doing that.
I know my colleagues and, certainly, I work hard for our constituents. I am always amazed at the amazing dedication of commitments of our constituents that are coming forward with their
concerns. They are fully committed at working hard. They are willing to go to great lengths, but the court is not typically one of them. Unfortunately, not all cases that are brought to us as MLAs get rectified through this process. I found that constituents can be left hanging with their issues unresolved. We may need to dedicate some money to this, but I do note that we are able to throw tens of millions of dollars on projects unexpectedly at the last minute. I would say meeting the responsibilities that we have to the people of the Northwest Territories certainly should take precedence.
An independent parliamentary ombudsman office is the way to go. I look forward to working with the Cabinet and all of my colleagues on this side of the House to make it happen.