Thank you. Turning to Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, beginning on page 10. Questions? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. There are some fairly significant changes here. I know that last year, 2019-2020, of course was an election year, so I would expect to see a big increase in expenditures for the year. It has dropped down to $439,000 for 2020-2021, which is lower than the actuals for 2018-2019. Can I get an explanation as to what is happening here? Thanks, Madam Chair. Then I flip the page. I see that there were three full-time staff last year, and now there are no staff. What's happening here? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. As most of the contracts expire at the end of March, due to our post-election year, a lot of the contracts are until a few months after the election or the following year, but we will have one staff, a returning deputy officer on staff, and a part-time position, as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I know that the bulk of the workload happens during an election year. We also made some changes to the Elections Act in the last Assembly to better define the role of the Chief Electoral Officer and give them a bit more of a mandate in terms of public education and promotion and so on. I'm just a bit surprised to see that we're not budgeting for anybody in the office as of, starting, April 1^st. What is the $439,000 for? Are we going to have some kind of contract to have somebody to serve in that capacity? I'm just trying to understand what's happening here, Madam Chair. It's just coming as a bit of a surprise. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, great question. Actually, we will still have on staff our Chief Electoral Officer, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, and also a part-time position. Leading up to the next election, we'll see all these positions put out again and fully staffed. With the positions that we will have on staff, that will conclude the post-election work that is required, so we'll have, actually, three staff on, well, two and a half, actually.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't want to prolong this, but as chair of rules and procedures, I know that the report from the last election is due very soon. It has to come before rules and procedures, and that's usually presented by the Chief Electoral Officer. We have a public hearing, we seek input, and so on. If that position is not staffed, I just want to make sure that we're going to be able to continue to do that work. I understand that there will be a contract put in place. Should we be expecting, then, a supplemental appropriation partway through the year, to properly staff up this office, given that the contracts are ending, and so on? Is that what we should expect to see moving forward? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. No, there will be no further funding requested. The Chief Electoral Officer position will still be staffed. It's just the extra staff that was needed during the election period, so we'll have the Electoral Officer, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer position, and a part-time position, as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I'm just trying to reconcile the figure for 2018-2019. The actual is $754,000, and then, for 2020-2021, it's $439,000. Were there some pre-election expenditures then, back in 2018-2019, that we start to see a ramping up? Maybe I'm just trying to understand that, the cycle here, and it's off-sheet. Is that what happened? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker.

Yes, because this was leading up to the previous election, there was a lot of training, as well, that the Chief Electoral Officer put forward, especially in the communities, with the returning officers. That had a lot to do with it, plus bringing on staff, as I mentioned. That took a lot of it. The changes that were being proposed, the Chief Electoral Officer, are consistent with what she requested. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess why I'm asking these questions, as I said earlier, I'm using my lens as the chair of rules and procedures. I just want to make sure that, this function, that we're giving the right amount of resources to carry out this function. I guess I'm just going to have to watch this moving forward. Thanks, Madam Chair. That's all.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker.

I'll take it as a comment. As I mentioned, it's fully consistent with what the Chief Electoral Officer has requested. As I mentioned in my opening statement, we're always trying to work closely with the independent commissioners and continue that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Are there any further questions to Office of the Chief Electoral Officer? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Over the years, I think, there has been some discussion with kind of expanding the role of the Chief Electoral Officer to also include municipal elections. I know there are a number of different ways that local authorities run their own elections. I think what we kind of see is that the Chief Electoral Officer gets really busy when there's an election, obviously, and when there is an Electoral Boundaries Commission. Then we see these fluctuations in the budget. I guess my question to the Speaker is: is there any desire or current conversations happening about expanding local authorities' elections under the parameters of the Chief Electoral Officer?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Mr. Speaker.