This is page numbers 4285 - 4326 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was public.

Topics

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was speaking to you. “This move is anti-democratic in the sense that there is no opportunity for public consultation and little time, five days, for public debate.” I think it was less than that actually, Mr. Speaker. “A decision to tamper with this fundamental democratic right cannot be made without the full and informed consent of all citizens of the NWT. To propose a weekend to consider deferring my right is an affront to democracy and to the hard fought battle to have the right to vote.”

Mr. Speaker, another constituent or resident says, “I find it totally unacceptable to spring this issue on voters and then expect them to get back to their MLAs over the weekend.”

Another: “At the very least, allow time for full and open public debate on a matter of such importance.”

Finally: “This rushed approach does not allow adequate time for the public to become informed or respond.”

Mr. Speaker, there is firm data, firm studies on the benefits of concurrent elections such as through the study that examined many situations concluded that there was a significantly improved voter turnout with concurrent elections. People want to hold the election October 2015 as scheduled, or a bit earlier if we must. Again, the public spoke clearly along similar lines with these comments.

I quote again, Mr. Speaker: “It might be hard for this government to understand, but as voters we can keep more than one issue straight, especially because the federal election is so simple. My two cents: Have it on the same day and save us some money.”

Again, a voter says, “The possibility of voter fatigue is disrespectful to those voters who take voting seriously. This move is anti-democratic in the sense that there is no opportunity for public consultation and little time, five days for public debate. I urge you to leave the election date where it is and face the electors with your skills and decision-making record.”

Another constituent writes: “Also, to suggest that voters would be confused and/or frustrated with a possibility of up to three elections taking place in a relatively short period of time denigrates the intelligence of all Canadians and particularly the electors in the NWT.”

Mr. Speaker, a resident says, “If you really must change the election date, why not make it shorter rather than longer?”

Another says, “I am concerned that Members of the Legislative Assembly would think that the electorate of the NWT would be confused and not able to differentiate between different elections for different levels of government. I don't know anyone who would find this confusing.”

Another says, “If you sincerely believe the electorate is too simple to cope with multiple elections, you could offer to hold territorial elections earlier.”

A constituent says, “I strongly disagree with the concerns that having all three elections at the same time would affect voter turnout in a negative way. As a matter of fact, I believe the opposite. Those of us who do vote, will continue to vote. Those who do not, may be convinced to do so as a result of the increased exposure.” And that is consistent with the findings of the study.

Finally, a constituent says, “I don't believe three elections in close proximity to each other is nearly as problematic as some would make it out to be. While there are some risks in terms of voter fatigue, there is also a possibility that many could find the elections in close proximity much more convenient.”

Mr. Speaker, to my mind, the public has spoken and their message is crystal clear. This motion is considered by most to be undemocratic and of questionable ethics. The message that people may be confused with three concurrent elections is insulting to the people of the NWT.

Finally: “Give this up, stick to the democratic as currently provided for in legislation and await additional authority for changing election dates as provided for the 18th Legislative Assembly following due and democratic process.”

So, Mr. Speaker, based on the people, I firmly oppose the motion and invite my colleagues to hear the people and join me and others in opposition.

Before ending, Mr. Speaker, I would like to, in recognition of the comments I've heard to the previous amendment, I think there is interest in having flexibility to reset the dates of the election within the month of October in order to maximize the voter turnout and the coordination between elections. I heard that from my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen, I believe. I would like to propose an amendment to Motion 16-17(5).

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Bromley.

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Motion 16-17(5) be amended by adding the following to the resolution portion of the motion: “AND FURTHERMORE, that should federal legislation be enacted as requested, the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly propose a bill at the earliest opportunity to defer the election to a date within the month of October 2015 that maximizes coordination of concurrent elections and voter turnout.” Mahsi.

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been very clear so far, so speaking very briefly to the motion, there was some indication and sentiment that we do need to have a little bit of flexibility within the month of October 2015 rather than force the election on the first Monday of October 2015.

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. We're just waiting for the copies of your amendment, Mr. Bromley. I will take a five-minute break.

---SHORT RECESS

Speaker's Ruling
Motions

Page 4294

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Mr. Bromley, could I ask you to read your amendment to the Motion 16-17(5) into the record, again? Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Motion 16-17(5) be amended by adding the following to the resolution portion of the motion: “AND FURTHERMORE, that should federal legislation be enacted as requested, the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly propose a bill at the earliest opportunity to defer the election to a date within the month of October 2015 that maximizes coordination of concurrent elections and voter turnout.” Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I'm trying to recognize the requests of the original movers of the motion. I think Mrs. Groenewegen spoke to the desirability of having some flexibility to move the date around within the month of October 2015, so we don't have to have it on the first Monday. My point has always been that there's a real opportunity to maximize voter turnout if we can coordinate our election with any other elections that might be happening in October 2015. This motion is a proposal to do that.

Again, there's good evidence to indicate that with this sort of move we can actually achieve increased voter turnout. In the last election, certainly it was a concern as turnout was down quite a bit from the election before. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the amendment to the motion. Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened with interest to the Member's comments and his speaking to the motion where he belabours us for not consulting the people, for putting in a date, for not giving him an opportunity to have a say, then he turns around, after we've amended the motion to make sure we focused just on getting the tools to allow us to possibly make a change, to stand up, without any consultation from anybody, the 25 people he referred to, there are 42,000 people in the Northwest Territories. I was in my constituency this weekend and I didn't hear anything near what the Member is saying.

It seems to be, at the very least, contradictory, if not a double standard, where he on one hand accuses us and says we shouldn't be doing this, it's taking people's rights for granted, then stand up and throw in a motion that's so narrow as to be almost useless and handcuff the intent of the motion, which is just to get the tools and then let's have this debate, let's put it to the people, let's give them what Mr. Bromley has said they need, that Mr. Dolynny has said they need as a foundation piece of democracy and then to put this out, if it's not outright duplicitous, it's friggin' double standard. And I withdraw the friggin'. Thank you.

---Laughter

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you for that withdrawal, Mr. Miltenberger. To the amendment to the motion. Mr. Bouchard.

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't support the amendment. Like I indicated earlier, I think status quo is the easiest process. Either we vote for the one year or we vote for status quo.

I did hear this concept of putting elections together, but I think we should keep our status quo the way it is, or this motion moves forward. But I think if we start to look at...because I heard just as many people go, let's go early, let's go six months or a year early. I guess the point is that I don't support this motion.

Like I indicated in the statement, we could figure out 50 different ways to do it. Let's just stay status quo, simplify this process and move on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you. To the amendment to the motion. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate where the mover of the motion and seconder are coming to the House with and I do appreciate and applaud them trying to find some line or reason, I guess, with what publicly we've heard and trying to find some tools so that we can mitigate the current situation.

However, with very little notice of this motion, or amended motion on the floor, it makes it very difficult to accept at this time for two reasons. One, again, the sample pool that we received here and creating this motion is rather small, as was pointed out. Two, I have great respect for the Board of Management but, unfortunately, I don't have a vote on the Board of Management, and given the fact that I don't have a vote on the Board of Management, this is something that has to be dealt with in the realm of 19 Members here in the Assembly and for those reasons I cannot support that motion. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the amendment to the motion. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, needless to say, I won't be supporting the amendment to the motion here, but I do want to say it is too prescriptive. I think the original motion, which we're going to vote on here shortly, gives us more latitude to have that discussion with the greater public to find out what people think before a bill comes to this House. So I think that putting it all on the same day...and that is an idea that is out there. There is some research around doing that type of thing, no doubt, but I don't know how that would work out in the smaller communities. I don't know how it would even work out in Yellowknife. But I've run in five election campaigns; I don't think I'd want to be having my constituents go to the polls on the same day. You know, my supporters going to the polls on the same day as everybody else. It's not what we're used to; it's complicated. You know, not to insult anybody though. Let's not confuse things here. I'm not saying that people aren't smart enough to figure it out; of course they are. But I'm thinking of candidates even that want to run in an election and I think it's a lot of doors to be knocked on and a lot of people to be consulted for all to culminate on one day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the amendment to the motion. Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm enjoying the good discussion on the amendments of the motion here today. Given the short notice of this amendment to the motion that's on the floor, even with the good nature of trying to come up with an agreement within the House, with the short notice I can't support the motion going forward. As stated in my earlier comments, with the options that I discussed with constituents back home, the majority just said to leave it the same. I'm going to stick with that and I won't be supporting the motion brought forth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the amendment to the motion. Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I like Mr. Bromley's motion to try to have it in October, but it gives the appearance that we are really not extending our term. At the same time, perhaps September 3rd or September 5th is the best day too. This motion doesn't allow that flexibility, so I won't be supporting the amendment. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the amendment to the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Question has been called. The motion is defeated.

---Defeated

To the motion as amended. Mr. Nadli.