Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased today to stand in support of this motion, and I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for their very hard work and for providing me, as an alternate member of that committee, to join the committee on the regular discussion around this topic.
Transparency and openness was a long-standing priority of many voters in the last election, and long-standing for many Northerners as well. The consensus government always needs to be evolving, and all systems of government do as well. We made some very bold steps early on. Allowing a nomination for the premiership a week early to allow our constituents to provide their feedback was a huge step in opening up the transparency around leadership decisions. In other systems, regular citizens have more opportunities to weigh in on those leadership decisions and clearly identify who their future leaders are going to be after the election and what their priorities are going to be through clearly articulated platforms. These are features that our unique system does not have.
The mandate and many of the changes being proposed now are attempts to bring those features to the people of the Northwest Territories, to allow them to have more say on how our decision-makers are being selected and how, ultimately, they are held accountable, which is why a mid-term review is so important. I have gone on the record several times calling for a different way to select Ministers, and I've even criticized secret balloting. But ultimately I have to look around this Assembly and see what the will of the majority is, and also respect the processes that brought our Cabinet together in the first place, and that process was by secret ballot.
This process does exactly that. It is a reflection of the Territorial Leadership Committee and establishes a unique process that suits the model of consensus government. We always endeavour to work together and work collaboratively. Although we enjoy healthy tension here on the floor of this Chamber, we do a lot of our work outside, and it is productive, effective work.
We need to continue with that spirit and develop processes, procedures, and bodies such as a Mid-term Review Committee to allow that work to proceed effectively. If a process was agreed to by the majority as the best process to elect our Cabinet, the Mid-term Review Committee done by secret ballot is clearly the best process to review their performance.
I think those kinds of considerations were well weighed by the standing committee, and I was hopeful that we would all be able to come together at the end of the day. I respect what my colleague, the honourable Member for Great Slave, has said today and I appreciate that we will all work on this process moving forward to build a stronger government and give Northerners the accountability that they have asked for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.