Thank you, Mr. Chair. As chair of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, I am pleased to present Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act.
Bill 24 is the result of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures review of three reports submitted by the Chief Electoral Officer in the life of the 18th Assembly. The first, entitled "Modernizing Election Administration in the Northwest Territories," was tabled by the Speaker on May 31, 2016, and reports on the conduct of the general election. The second report is a white paper on the independence and accountability of election administration in the Northwest Territories commissioned by the Chief Electoral Officer and tabled in the Legislative Assembly on February 28, 2017. The third report provides four supplementary recommendations on the administration of the 2015 general election. It was tabled on June 1, 2017. Together, these reports contain 107 recommendations for changes related to election administration, including legislative amendments.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is responsible for reviewing these reports and for making recommendations to the Legislative Assembly. Because the Chief Electoral Officer's two reports and white paper are closely related, the committee carried out a coordinated and comprehensive review of all three documents, involving in-depth examination of each recommendation, and extensive public and stakeholder consultation. The standing committee notified former candidates, interested stakeholders, and the media prior to holding public hearings with the Chief Electoral Officer in Yellowknife on September 9, 2016, and June 12, 2017. Public submissions were received from two individuals, and additional submissions were sought from stakeholders and from the public via the standing committee's website after the white paper was tabled.
At the conclusion of this consultation and review process, the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures released its report on the review of the Chief Electoral Officer's three reports on October 17, 2017. The standing committee report was debated in Committee of the Whole on October 19, 2017, and this Assembly adopted each of the standing committee's 15 recommendations. Since that time, the law clerk and legislative drafters have been working to translate these recommendations for improvements to the Elections and Plebiscites Act into the amendments found in Bill 24.
The amendments were also reviewed and discussed by caucus by all MLAs earlier this month, where some additional minor changes were made. The overriding purpose of these amendments is to increase the opportunity for members of the public to participate in the democratic process in the Northwest Territories and to improve administration of elections. These amendments also allow for modernization of our electoral system. The most important changes include:
- fixing the election date to the first Tuesday in October;
- setting rules for third-party advertising;
- allowing greater flexibility and financial reporting by candidates;
- allowing absentee voters to vote electronically;
- clarifying the mandate of Elections NWT, including working with youth in schools;
- increasing penalties under the act;
- expanding the scope of annual reports by the chief electoral officer; and
- improving powers of investigation and enforcement.
Bill 24 recognizes the strength of our existing system, and builds on this strength to ensure our electoral process is modern, inclusive, and more accessible to all voters in the Northwest Territories. That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair, and I'm prepared for any questions that Members may have. Thank you.