Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess what we have before us is a bill that was developed in response to reports from the Chief Electoral Officer; the observations and recommendations that she made in running the election in 2015. There were opportunities for the public to review and comment on her report. Maybe they could have been better, and I will agree with the mover of this motion that we probably could do a better job in terms of the public review of this bill itself, but the Chief Electoral Officer did not raise the issue of party politics in her reports. That's not part of why this bill was being brought forward.
I guess, on that basis alone, I have some difficulty with the proposal from the Member from Kam Lake that this is being sort of piggybacked onto this work. I think that party politics represents a very fundamental change to the way that we carry out governance in the Northwest Territories, and that it really does deserve a public discussion and debate. I think we have heard that it's going to be a divisive debate and discussion. We know that.
I think trying to do this, even though I understand that this is enabling, that it doesn't require party politics, it certainly opens the door. I think once you open that door, there's no coming back. It is very difficult to come back.
I agree with others. I think that the more appropriate way to do this, rather than piggyback it onto this bill, is to do it as a private Member's bill and/or a plebiscite. If you're going to do a plebiscite, there needs to be a very clear question around registration of political parties and affiliation on ballots. I think you can devise a clear question around those ideas and, you know, I'm willing to have that discussion and debate, but I don't think we have it in the context of this bill and the changes that it proposes, which are really to improve our democratic system, improve elections, and improve the ability of the Chief Electoral Officer to carry out elections.
The last point I guess I want to make is that there's some urgency with this bill. We have to get this bill dealt with, so that we give the Chief Electoral Officer clear direction moving forward in how the next election is going to be carried out. I know I have sort of pestered some of my colleagues about this, about the necessity to get this done and out the door so that the Chief Electoral Officer can get the tools and the resources in place to start working on the election, which is less than a year away.
With all that being said, I do want to commend my colleague from Kam Lake in bringing this forward. Look, I'm as frustrated as anybody else with consensus government. I don't think it's working as well as it can and should. That being said, I have tried to find ways to improve it and work with our Cabinet colleagues, when and where I can, including amendments to bills and so on. I do want to commend my colleague from Kam Lake in bringing this forward and starting the debate and discussion that will inevitably take place around party politics. I just don't think this is the time and place to do it in the context of this bill. For all those reasons, Mr. Chair, I will be voting against the amendment. Thanks.