Thank you, Madam Chair. I welcome this opportunity to provide a few comments on the report. I would like, as many of you have done, to thank the commission for the work that they’ve done, and commissions in the past. I think the commissions in the past have tried very hard to have representation from all across the Northwest Territories in recognizing the different regions, cultures and languages. I think they’ve attempted to try and address that in the past.
I’ve heard a few Members talk about fair representation, good representation, more and better representation, effective representation, equal representation, and based on numbers alone, there is quite a discrepancy, just based on the numbers. If you look at the numbers in one of the ridings in the capital, for example, with 2,900 constituents, are they any less represented than the community of Sachs Harbour with their 127 constituents? I don’t think so. I think the fact that they have access to everything in the capital – they have access to seven Members, they have access to this building, they have access to all the departments and all the headquarters – I think they’re more represented than the small communities that are out there.
I tend to agree with Mr. Bouchard that those of us that have single community ridings – I represent half of Inuvik – we can walk our ridings and provide them with good representation. So if we just look at this report based on numbers alone, there is a discrepancy, but I think there’s more to it than that.
I agree with my colleagues Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Abernethy that we need to take the politics out of this. We need to take the politics out of this. I was fortunate enough to take part in the last discussion we had on the Electoral Boundaries Commission eight years ago. It was quite a debate then and we’re having quite a debate today. I do believe that we need to look at a binding report eight years from now when the commission is struck, and the Members of the day, I think, should provide very clear direction as to what they would like to see.
Send the commission out to do their work, because it’s a lot of work that they put into this, a lot of work, send them out to do their work and when they come back that will give us an opportunity to have a discussion before they release their final draft, and I believe their final draft should be binding and I will be making a motion to that effect later on today. So, again, if you look at just based on numbers alone, the ridings with more constituents are under-represented, but I think there’s more to it than that.
I welcome this opportunity to have been able to say a few words and I look forward to further discussion. As I said, I will be bringing a motion forward later on today. Thank you, Madam Chair.