Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Member for Nunakput.
Debates of Oct. 5th, 2023
This is page numbers 6787 - 6868 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Committee Motion 515-19(2): Tabled Document 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Statutory Officers' Annual Reporting, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th, 2023
Page 6820
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the following be added after Rule 9.2(5): 9.2(5.1) each Regular Member shall sit on a minimum of two committees, in addition to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. This includes standing committees and the board of management. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River North.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'm -- I have some questions about this. So this is stating that each Regular Member shall sit on a minimum of two committees in addition to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. So it says every Regular Member shall sit on the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. And so if a Member is not sitting on the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, they're in violation of the rules I suppose. So I wonder what would be the redress if they were in violation of those rules? I know we don't have witnesses here but this is just something I wanted to bring to people's attention given some of the future recommendations. So I'll just leave it at that. Thanks.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Thank you, Member. This is debate on the motion but there's not questions. We don't have witnesses. So Member for Hay River North.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Yeah, no, I mentioned we don't have witnesses. I just wanted to bring this to the House's attention. I'm not asking any questions as there's no one to ask. Thank you.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Yeah, thanks. Well, I'm not going to try to answer my colleague's question directly. But I guess the expectation coming into an Assembly is that Regular Members, Members who are not on the Cabinet side, would sit on two committees. This wasn't a requirement. And then this Assembly, that didn't happen, which increased the workload for the remaining Members. So this is, I think, in response to just try to lay -- not just lay out that as an expectation in the future. This is more of a requirement, dare we say, that if you're going to get elected here, you serve as a Regular Member, you're automatically on the AOC but you have to sit on two other standing committees so that we have a more -- tried to do a fair distribution of the workload. I think it's a good rule, and I'll be voting in favour of it. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, Madam Chair, I was going to make a similar point to the Member for Frame Lake that when this occurred in this Assembly, it made for an unequal distribution of work which is not considerate of the other Members. And so it's a shame that we have to set it out explicitly, but I think it's a good idea. Thank you.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Some Hon. Members
Question.
Committee Motion 516-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Regular Member committee Membership, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Member for Nunakput.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Madam Chair, I move that the committee recommends that the following be added after Rule 9.3(9):
(9.1) if the Member of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight acts in a manner that warrants discipline, which includes but is not limited to:
(a) violating any provision of the Legislative Assembly and executive council Act and its regulations that deal with conduct and responsibilities of committee members.
(b) disclosing confidential committee information without committee approval;.
(c) attending a meeting under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, or other mind-altering substance; and
(d) being repeatedly absent from meetings without a valid excuse.
The committee may, by majority vote, suspend the Member from the committee for a period of up to three meetings in duration.
(9.2) if the Member has been suspended from the committee for a period of time, the chair of the committee will report the suspension to the House under reports of standing and special committees.
(9.3) the committee may, at any time, recommend to the House that a Member be removed from or reappointed to the committee.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6820
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Madam Chair. So we just approved a rule saying every Member shall sit on Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. Now this speaks to Members being removed from the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, which would mean the removal of the Member would then put them in violation of the previous rule? I'm just a little confused about this. And, again, there's no one to ask these questions to I'm not quite sure what to do with this. But I guess that's a situation that will arise or we'll deal with it when it happens. Thanks.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Yeah, thank you. I have the same thought as well. There have been issues in each of the Assemblies that I've -- that I've been a Member of with attendance, and it seems counterintuitive to suspend someone who's not coming anyway. But at the same time, it draws attention to the problem that some Members are not doing their jobs. And I think it's important for the public to know about that. But having said that, I take the point of the Member for Hay River North that we're sort of looking at both sides of the coin here. Thank you.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just in regards to the question, it's only the House could remove a Member. So it's not removing Members. It's just reappointment. The committee may want him off the committee. He'll get reappointed to another committee, and they do a tradeoff. So that's, like I said, only the House could remove Members. Thank you.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
No, thanks. The chair of the committee is right. Only the House can remove a Member. But that's not what this motion -- or this rule does. This rule just gives the Members of AOC an ability to discipline Members if necessary. And it's quite an elaborate process that has to be gone through. So it's providing tools to AOC to administer discipline if necessary. That's all this is. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Shane Thompson Nahendeh
Yeah, thank you. And I'd just like to add to that there. It also gives AOC some tools. Right now, Cabinet, the tools, the Premier has. The Premier can make those decisions. But AOC would have to bring it to this House to do something. So this gives the tools to AOC to deal with their situation. It doesn't have to come to the House. So that's why I am supportive of this. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 517-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Removal of Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821