Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to provide the opening comments on Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act.

Mr. Chair, the general election for the 18th Legislative Assembly is currently scheduled to take place on Monday, October 5, 2015. Prior to the passage of fixed election date legislation in the Northwest Territories, the timing of our elections was a moving target. Subsequently, the Parliament of Canada adopted similar legislation establishing the third Monday in October every four years as the date fixed for federal elections. This has resulted in an overlap in the campaign period for the upcoming federal elections and those scheduled to take place in several provinces and territories, including our own. If the NWT and federal elections are held on the dates planned, there will be a 21-day overlap in the campaign period for each jurisdiction. In a small jurisdiction like ours, it is often the same people who administer federal and territorial elections in our communities and volunteer for various campaign organizations. Concerns have also been raised about message confusion and the potential mixing of partisan debate with our consensus system of government if the two campaigns take place concurrently. It is for these reasons that the NWT, like some of the other provinces in similar circumstances, supports a rescheduling of our election date in 2015 to avoid this overlap.

Mr. Chair, Bill 34 establishes April 1, 2015, as a go/no-go date for our 2015 General Election. If on that day the federal election remains scheduled for October 19, 2015, this bill will automatically delay the NWT election until November 23, 2015. The campaign period for a November 23rd territorial election will commence on October 30, 2015, a full 11 days after the federal election. If the timing of the federal election changes prior to April 1, 2015, so as to avoid an overlap in campaign periods, the date of the 2015 NWT General Election will remain October 5th.

Finally, Bill 34 will only take effect if the Parliament of Canada passes legislation permitting the life of the current Assembly to extend beyond its current four-year mandate. Section 224 of Bill C-43 recently introduced in the House of Commons intended to do just this. Although Bill C-34 permits the life of the current Assembly to be extended by up to one year, the proposal before you today contemplates a delay in our general election of only just over six weeks. Bill 34 deals only with the timing of the 2015 General Election. Additional legislation may be required to avoid similar overlaps in future years.

This concludes my opening comments. I will be pleased to answer any questions from the committee.