Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the seconder of the motion and deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I would like to speak briefly about committee's reason for bringing this forward. As my colleague Mr. Nadli has mentioned, the need for a territorial ombudsman has been discussed in this House for many years and I have been pushing it over the last few years that I've been here.
I'm sure that all of us believe in commonly accepted principles of administrative fairness, and these include:
- the right to be treated with respect and dignity;
- the right to speak on your own behalf or to have an advocate speak for you or with you;
- the right to be heard;
- the right to participate in decisions that affect you;
- the right to receive clear, complete and appropriate reasons for a decision;
- the right to obtain all information that led to the initial decision or that is being considered in an appeal;
- the right to an impartial review of a decision that affects you, a review that is accessible, flexible, timely and easy to use; and
- the right to an appeal procedure that has a built-in mechanism to protect against retribution.
The Northwest Territories has numerous appeals and complaints processes set up through both policy and legislation, processes which help protect our citizens' rights to administrative fairness. In many jurisdictions, however, there is an ombudsman who generally oversees the administrative actions of government and determines their administrative fairness. An ombudsman may investigate complaints from the public or, in some cases, conduct investigations on his or her own initiative or by referral from a committee or a Minister. An ombudsman may consult with authorities and make recommendations to resolve issues of unfairness and improve administrative practices. The ombudsman can be a source of information and advice about administrative fairness.
In the Northwest Territories, an ombudsman could do many things. He or she could provide an information and referral service or recommend efficiencies in our processes or identify gaps in existing complaint and appeal processes, as well as dealing directly with any complaints and concerns that do not fall under an existing process. These are only some of the possibilities that could be investigated.
This motion will allow the Standing Committee on Government Operations to conduct research and analysis and thoroughly review all the options, including combining the ombudsman's office with that of an existing statutory officer, such as the Information and Privacy Commissioner or the Language Commissioner.
The committee would be pleased to undertake this study with a focus on the efficiency, effectiveness and usefulness of an ombudsman in the context of northern realities. I urge all my colleagues to support this motion and let the committee get to work.