Question has been called. Raise your arms high because I am going to have to count this one out. All those in favour?

Again, raise your arms high so we can count. All those in favour? So I need all those in favour. Member for Hay River North.

I request a recorded vote.

Thank you. The Member for Hay River North has requested a recorded vote. Just give me a second here.

Members, I'm just going to call a short recess, like, three, five minutes. Okay, three to five minutes.

---SHORT RECESS

I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Members, the Member for Hay River North requested a recorded vote so we will go ahead with the recorded vote. So all those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand.

Those Members who are abstaining, please stand.

Members, the results of the recorded vote is six in favour; seven against, one abstention. The motion is defeated.

---Defeated

Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.

Madam Chair, this recommendation is a little confusing as one of the duties of an Electoral Boundaries Commission laid out in legislation is to recommend the names of electoral districts. As we will see a little later, the commission has recommended a minor change to the name of one district. I am not certain that we have adequate time to complete this review and change legislation prior to the next election, Madam Chair, but I support the recommendations. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, when I first decided to run for this Assembly, I ended up joining a group on social media that was for women in leadership, etcetera. And then when I won, I made quite a -- what I thought was a great post about myself in that group saying I was part of this amazing gender equal Cabinet, not realizing that this international group was going to jump down my throat for the name Great Slave of my riding. So that was a bit of a first reminder of myself of the connotation of the name "slave." And when I came into the -- and albeit knowing that there is a different reason for that name here in the Northwest Territories, it does carry a bad historical connotation.

When I came in, I did want to put forward a private Member's bill to change the name of my riding, and I was told that there would be an Electoral Commissioner's report this term, and so I thought well, I'll just wait for that.

I am a disappointed that this is as slow as it is. I would have actually liked to have seen actual recommendations for the name of my riding to change and to be more culturally inclusive of the area that it incorporates. Unfortunately, this is just saying let's start looking at that and the GNWT loves to plan to plan. So I guess that's where we're at for this one. But I do support this motion, and I look forward to, I hope, a good extensive engagement with Indigenous organizations and governments in order to determine what these names will be. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, I too agree with this motion. I think we do need to change the names of at least one riding in Yellowknife, and I'm not even going to use the word because I earlier today called it colonial and racist, and I'm trying to consciously not use that word anymore, so. But I see that, you know, this piece of legislation, and if I can get the name right here, Territorial Emblems and Honours Act, and I think there's an advisory committee established underneath this act if I get this right, or if -- sorry, Northwest Territories Honours Advisory Council or -- I think we have another thing to do with symbols. I think we do need to have independent advice on getting some potential changes to some of the riding names. And even if it doesn't happen in this round of changes to the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, if we set this up in a timely way and get the recommendations back and passed through the House, I think we probably still have time to get the names out of one, two ridings maybe, changed in time for the next election. So I do think there are some time constraints here but I think it's doable, and I really would encourage that we collectively support this and get that piece of work done. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? Motion is carried.

---Carried

Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly consider amending section 9(c) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act and for sections 54-55 of the Election and Plebiscites Act to clarify any inconsistencies. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I support this motion. This is a housekeeping item to ensure that future independent Commissions have access to information into the register of electors to conduct their work. Thank you, Madam Chair.