Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I came in. I expected that I would be able to support the final four motions, but then I hear there were references to, oh, we have to fix “old boys club,” "nudge, nudge, wink, wink," and there are references to not allowing direct or indirect monetary or other personal private interests, suggesting that there is something really wrong. So, in my view, the Code of Conduct and the Oath of Office before us worked fine for me, so I will not be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier. I will remind everyone that the motion refers to the Oath of Office, which is separate from the Code of Conduct. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure if my understanding of this is that it is a replacement of the Code of Conduct, but it is rather linking the Oath of Office to the Code of Conduct, so we are, as Members, after we swear our Oaths, we will be held accountable to the Code of Conduct. A great deal of discussion was had about how to give the Code of Conduct teeth, more or less actual, enforceable, and tangible results, and that was a discussion that we had in Caucus early on, and we all agreed was important, so the motion was more than aspirational, but actually had some impact on our behavior as Members of this House.

It has been said before; the fact that we are honourable Members of this House is not taken lightly, and we hold each other, and the public certainly holds us to a higher standard, and this ensures that the Code of Conduct we lay out for ourselves is not aspirational but, in fact, has direct, applicable results on our behaviour, and further, gives that Code of Conduct real consequences should it be violated. I do support this motion, and I think the committee came up with a very effective way to meet that objective. I respectfully disagree with the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. I think that this is an enhancement, and it does meet that objective of giving teeth to the Code of Conduct, which is something that we, as a Caucus, agreed to do. Thank you.

Thank you. To the motion. Over to Mr. O'Reilly to conclude debate.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think there is just a bit of a misunderstanding here. I would urge Members, if they have got the report in front of them, if you can turn to page 9 of the report. You will see at the top of it, and I will just take a moment, Mr. Chair, to read.

What we are proposing here, what the committee proposed is replacing the current Oath of Office. The current Oath of Office is found at the top of page 9, and it is pretty short. I will just read it as follows -- we are not proposing changing the conduct guidelines themselves, although that is the subject of the next recommendation. The current oath which is what we are talking about replacing here, it reads as follows:

"I, Member's name, do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will duly and faithfully, and to the best of my skill and knowledge, execute the powers and trust proposed as a Member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly so help me God."

That is what is in the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act. It is a requirement to assume offices and you have to swear this oath.

What the Committee has recommended is some additional items to add into the oath to tie together the conduct guidelines, the Code of Conduct. That is what this is really aimed at. We are not trying to sneak anything by anybody. It is about tying together the tools that we have available to us to ensure that the Code of Conduct, if we develop one, and I think that is the subject of the next recommendation. It is about tying these things together. I hope that all Members can support this. We are not trying to do anything here. This was actually adopted from Newfoundland and Labrador. This is the Oath of Office, essentially, that they used. What we did was adopt their Oath of Office. We are just simply replacing, or suggesting that the current oath be beefed up to reference the Code of Conduct, the Members' Conduct Guidelines. That is all it is. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I hope that everybody can support this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to request a recorded vote again. Thank you.

The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand.

All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote are 9 in favour; 7 opposed; zero abstentions. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Members' Conduct Guidelines serve as the basis for a new Members' Code of Conduct including more specific and enforceable provisions; and further, that the new code be presented to the Assembly for consideration and adoption. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly. We have less than two minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I certainly will not require that amount of time. What we did as a committee was we looked at how other jurisdictions deal with conduct guidelines, Codes of Conduct. It was a wide-ranging review that was assisted through our able staff. We looked at how the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association deals with some of these matters, so we looked at a number of examples around the world actually, and certainly, most jurisdictions had made a move to a more detailed Code of Conduct rather than just guidelines. This is common in other governments, as I said, in other sectors including the volunteer sector. This is in an effort to improve enforceability and accountability. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to support of all Members again on this, and I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion. Question has been called. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote are 15 in favour; zero opposed; zero abstention. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Noting the time, I will now rise and report progress.

Masi. May I have the report, Member for Hay River North.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Committee Report 7-18(2), Report on the Review of the Members' Conduct Guidelines. I would like to report progress with three motions being adopted and, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Masi. Do you have a seconder? Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

---Carried

Item 22, third reading of bills. Minister of Transportation.

Masi. The Member is requesting a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion.