Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
CEO reports to the Legislative Assembly
The White Paper includes several recommendations to improve the CEO's reporting to the Legislative Assembly and to ensure the timeliness of the CEO's advice, which is particularly important when legislative amendments might be needed. Clear and timely reporting requirements have the added benefit of increasing accountability and the information available to the public.
Recommendation 11
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to:
• Require the CEO to submit an annual report to the Legislative Assembly describing work done under the direction of the CEO pursuant to the act;
• Require the CEO to submit a report to the Legislative Assembly after each election or plebiscite about the conduct of the election or plebiscite;
• Provide the CEO with the option of combining his or her reports into one in the year of an election or plebiscite;
• Provide that the CEO may report to the Legislative Assembly at any other time, on any matter that the CEO considers necessary; and
• Provide that any of the CEO's reports to the Legislative Assembly may include recommendations for legislative amendments to improve the administration of elections under this or any other related act.
Powers of investigation and enforcement
The CEO's powers of investigation and enforcement under the act were considerably enhanced by the 17th Assembly. The trend to sharpen the CEO's authorities in this area continues with ten recommendations in the White Paper.
Section 279 of the act gives the CEO broad authority to investigate any matter that comes to her/his attention that may be an offence under the act. Similarly, the CEO has great latitude to investigate to the extent he or she considers warranted. Although the CEO may begin an investigation without a complaint, complaints have historically driven the need for investigations. Complaints may be made to the CEO by anyone, within a year after polling day. However, section 284 of the act prevents commencement of the prosecution of any offence more than one year after the date of the offence. This could result in the inability to properly investigate and prosecute an offence stemming from a complaint registered shortly before the one-year anniversary date.
The White Paper recommends that the act be amended to set the deadline for prosecution at one year after the date the CEO has reasonable and probable grounds to believe an offence has been committed. This proposal could result in an extended investigation followed by up to a year's consideration before a decision to proceed with a prosecution. This is not timely by Canadian standards, and the Supreme Court of Canada has stressed the need for timely prosecutions of offenses. Further, the limbo created in such circumstances is not in the public interest.
The committee notes that the deadline for complaints, within a year after polling day, effectively provides for less time for any offense that occurs after polling day, such as those related to filing financial reports. To resolve this issue and to improve timeliness, the committee recommends that complaints should be made to the CEO within six months of the alleged offence.
With respect to prosecution of an offense, the committee recommends that the CEO should have authority to begin a prosecution up to one year from the date of the alleged offence. The CEO has the power to compel witnesses to appear, give evidence, and produce documents in the course of an investigation. However, the act falls short of making it an offence to obstruct an investigation authorized by the CEO. This omission should be remedied.
It has been the general practice of CEOs to make public the results of investigations of potential offences under the act. The White Paper suggests that the act provide some guidelines for publication of the outcomes of investigations; the committee agrees.
Recommendation 12
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to:
• Require the CEO to notify the complainant in writing, with reasons, if the CEO decides not to conduct an investigation of a complaint;
• Make it an offence to obstruct the CEO or her/his designate in carrying out an inspection or investigation under this act, or to withhold, conceal, or destroy any records, documents, or things relevant to the investigation;
• Provide that when the CEO believes it is in the public interest, the outcome of investigations may be published on Election NWT's website or by other means the CEO considers appropriate, and information provided may include the name of the person investigated and the nature of the matter;
• Provide that complaints respecting omissions or offences under the act may be made within six months of the alleged omission or offence; and
• Provide that the deadline for the CEO to commence a prosecution under the act is one year from the date of the alleged offence.
Materials for schools and students
Section 8 of the act directs the CEO to implement a program to inform electors about elections. This might be interpreted as an impediment to informing students, as some would not yet be of voting age. The White Paper recommends revising the act to specifically enable outreach to schools and students. Statistics in the CEO Report on the Administration of the 2015 Territorial General Election show that approximately 2,800 people aged 18 to 25 are not registered electors, a number equivalent to about 10 percent of all registered electors in the NWT. A very significant number of our young people are not exercising their right to vote. The committee agrees that building our young people's knowledge of basic civic rights might improve the turnout of young voters.
Recommendation 13
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to enable the CEO to develop and make materials available to schools for distribution to students who have reached voting age or will soon do so, including information on the NWT's electoral process, the right to vote, how to have one's name added to the register of electors, and any other matter that the CEO considers useful to electors and prospective electors.
Use of new voting technology
New voting technology has significantly changed voting methods around the world. With these changes have come new challenges in ensuring the integrity and security of the vote. The White Paper recommends that for by-elections the CEO should have greater flexibility to deploy different technology than is required by the act for general elections. The committee agrees that by-elections represent an opportunity to put election-ready technology to use and gain valuable experience, or to use potentially more efficient methods in a smaller election and/or plebiscites.
Recommendation 14
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to enable the CEO, at a by-election, to direct use of voting equipment, vote-counting equipment, or alternative voting methods that differ from those required elsewhere in the act.
Obtaining and sharing elector information
Elections NWT's register of electors is created from data acquired from various sources through information-sharing agreements. These sources include Elections Canada, agencies of three GNWT departments, and the City of Yellowknife. In her report on the 2015 election, the CEO notes it may also be useful to obtain information collected under the Motor Vehicles Act, and to enter agreements with Aboriginal governments and more municipalities. This practice has been in place for some time, but is not specifically described in the act.
The White Paper recommends codification of this current practice, enabling agreements with "any person, government agency, or institution." In addition, Elections NWT seeks authority to make agreements to provide address, mapping, demographic, geographic or geospatial information to these parties.
The committee believes that the register of electors could be much improved. As full enumeration is becoming a last resort, usage of resident data from other reliable sources is necessary and should be specifically sanctioned in the act.
Recommendation 15
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to:
• authorize the CEO to enter agreements with any person or government department or institution to obtain information, including personal information, to update the register of electors; and
• permit the CEO to enter agreements with any person or government department or institution to provide address, mapping, demographic or geographic information, including geospatial information; and
• ensure appropriate protection of the privacy of personal information.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to turn it back over to the Member for Frame Lake. Thank you.