Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being part of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the issue of an ombudsman did surface early on in our mandate, as we prepared for the people of the Northwest Territories, and it did receive unanimous support in coming forward, so I really welcome the Member for Government Ops Ms. Bisaro for bringing it forward, and Mr. Yakeleya for seconding it.
Really, in essence, this is an opportunity for this government, for government in general, to become more accountable to the people of the Northwest Territories. There is obviously a gap in our system. There is an obvious gap in terms of offering of services to the people when they need it most. Our legal system, if anyone was paying attention during the budget deliberations on the Department of Justice, we have backlogs. In fact, backlogs as far back as four months. This is very difficult in times when people are looking for that independent advice and may not need to go a legal system for that. An ombudsman would offer that segue and, I hope, unblock some of the unneeded, unnecessary legal actions that are required.
As Members indicated here, we as Regular Members are plagued and we welcome to help our people in the Northwest Territories, but we can’t do it alone. Many of us are quite busy with a lot of the affairs of just being legislators, and sometimes even ourselves, we have a backlog of constituents needing help and we can’t get to them in time. This is where an ombudsman office would offer that opportunity to be independent in nature, as mentioned by the Member for Frame Lake. We, ourselves, are not totally independent. We are in the government process ourselves and we can’t offer that full independence because our being part of the system. That is where an ombudsman office
would have its definite praise and opportunity to be a better tool for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Really, what an ombudsman means, is part of the beginning of what I have been talking about in the government standing committee, is about the government accountability office. This is something we’re going to hear more of in the future of the 17th Assembly. This is a brain child of many other governments and jurisdictions across Canada and North America, where the government itself is evaluated for what it does, independently, and where people can access this information via website with a simple click of a mouse, where they can see where their dollars are being spent, how it’s being spent, if it’s being spent wisely, and is there comfort knowing that this government is doing well.
That’s a future opportunity that I see here for this government, but it starts with an ombudsman office, and for that, I will be speaking in favour of this motion. Thank you.