WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly has established and appointed members

of the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2012;

AND WHEREAS Section 9(k) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act enables the Legislative Assembly to establish guidelines or criteria that shall be taken into consideration by the commission;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that the following guidelines be set out for the NWT Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2012:

1. The commission shall review the existing

electoral districts using the most recent and accurate census and other population data available;

2.

In keeping with Canadian constitutional conventions and the notion of effective representation, the commission shall make recommendations to achieve relative parity between electoral districts while balancing community of interest considerations;

3. For greater certainty, relative parody means that

the percentage variation between the number of persons in a riding and the average mean should be within plus or minus 25 percent, except where special circumstances warrant exceptional deviation;

4. The commission shall recommend how electoral

boundaries should be drawn if the Legislative Assembly comprises (a) 18 members, or (b) 19 members, or (c) 21 members;

5. The commission shall prepare an interim report

with proposed electoral district boundaries for review by the public and discussion at public hearings;

6. The commission shall establish a website or

other publicly accessible mechanism(s), in addition to public hearings, to receive submissions on the existing and/or proposed boundaries;

7. All submissions to the commission shall be

considered public documents;

8. Simultaneous translation of official languages

shall be available at public hearings where the use of an official language in a particular community or region is sizable enough to warrant the employ of translation services;

9. If the commission is not in a position to

accomplish its mandate within the existing budget allocated, it may return to the Legislative Assembly for additional funds;

10. The final report of the commission, complete

with recommendations, shall be submitted in English and in French to the Speaker and the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly no later than

seven months after the Commission is struck; and

11.

The Chief Electoral Officer shall serve as secretary to the commission.