WHEREAS nine Canadian provinces and Yukon have parliamentary ombudsman offices;
AND WHEREAS Yukon, a smaller jurisdiction than the Northwest Territories, has combined the offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioner with that of an ombudsman;
AND WHEREAS the Government of Yukon recently commissioned a report on the operations of Yukon's combined ombudsman/Information and Privacy Commissioner, which in February 2013 recommended that the office be made a full-time position, citing pending health privacy and whistleblower legislation which are expected to increase the workload in the position;
AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories' current Information and Privacy Commissioner has also noted that her workload will expand should new health privacy legislation and whistleblower legislation be enacted;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has undertaken a review of current practices which identified more than two dozen pieces of territorial legislation which establish statutory appeal mechanisms;
AND WHEREAS Members of the NWT Legislative Assembly have frequently raised the need for a territorial ombudsman in debate in this House, most recently in Motion 9-17(3), carried on June 8, 2012;
AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Government Operations wrote to the Premier on November 7, 2012, to state the committee's interest in the concept of an ombudsman's office for the NWT, combined with that of another statutory officer or officers such as the Information and Privacy Commissioner;
AND WHEREAS such an office could assist the Legislative Assembly and standing committees in their role in upholding standards of government accountability;
AND WHEREAS further research, analysis and review are required in order to determine the potential need for an NWT ombudsman, whether stand-alone or combined with another office;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the potential role of an NWT ombudsman, whether stand-alone or combined with another statutory office, and options for implementing such an office, be referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for research, review and analysis, and that the committee report its findings back to this House at the earliest opportunity;
AND FURTHER, that the Standing Committee on Government Operations shall be provided, through appropriations of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, with the necessary financial support to carry out its assigned responsibilities as they relate to this review.