Question.
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 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
Some Hon. Members
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
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 518-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly- Dissenting Opinions, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Madam Chair, I move the committee recommends that the following be added after Rule 9.4(1):
(1.1) one or more member(s) of a committee may indicate that they dissent of a particular recommendation or comment.
(1.2) a Member or Members who wish to express the reasons for their dissent may do so in an appendix to the report.
(1.3) the chair of a committee will establish a reasonable deadline for any dissenting opinion to be shared with committee members before the report is presented to the House.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 518-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly- Dissenting Opinions, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 518-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly- Dissenting Opinions, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Some Hon. Members
Question.
Committee Motion 518-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly- Dissenting Opinions, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
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 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the following be added after Rule 8.3(8):
(9) a bill reported by a standing or special committee as 'should not proceed' shall require a motion be adopted by the House to consider the bill in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife North.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North
Thank you. I'm not in favour of this motion. Right now when Committee of the Whole has to deal with their business, the chair calls it, and then we have a vote, and then sometimes Cabinet has to, you know, get something on the agenda -- we saw it today and last couple times over the last while. I don't know why adding this extra step would occur when it doesn't occur with anything else. Thank you.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, 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 right now there already is a vote. There's not a motion, but there's a vote, if there is a bill that is deemed not ready to go into Committee of the Whole. Someone will call that bill if they want, and then the committee will vote whether or not they want to bring it to Committee of the Whole. So, you know, during this Assembly, we have lengthened the amount of time it takes to get through legislation through additional, you know, public processes, Intergovernmental Council processes, the protocols that we've signed. And going forward in future Assemblies, I imagine that time will get longer. And there are instances where we need to get legislation through or at least have it debated. Give Members the opportunity to debate that legislation so that it has the opportunity to go through if that's the Assembly's wish. And sometimes that comes down to a day. You know, we need to get something done by this day and if we don't get it done by that day, it doesn't get done. And so what we're talking about here could add a day to that process. And so I have a concern that a committee could make a recommendation and similar to some -- you know, going back to some of these other motions we've discussed, sometimes the people doing the work on the committee might be two people. It might be two or three people. And so I don't want those two or three people to be able to deny the Assembly perhaps -- or you put up more roadblocks to the Assembly to do the Assembly's work. So I'm also opposed to this. We have work to get done, and this is just going to extend that timeline for us to do that work, slow us down, and that's not what we need to be doing right now. Thanks.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th, 2023
Page 6821
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Madam Chair, this rule is being brought forward because it's a check on Cabinet. Anything brought forward in a motion could take up to one or two days in regards to getting it through the House and if it's not nayed going through. So this rule is just brought forward to keep Cabinet in check. Thank you, Madam Chair. That's why it's brought forward.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Like my colleague, who serves as chair of the committee, we did talk about this and I'm not sure I can share my colleague's characterization of committee reports. Committee reports are from a committee. They're not from one or two Members. And believe me, I've seen the -- how hard the clerks work to make sure that there is consensus from committee, and if needs a majority vote, it gets a vote. Reports are not from one or two Members; they are from a committee. And that's the way it needs to be interpreted in this House so I don't feel very good about my colleague's characterization of committee work. But as it was said, this is really about, as I see it, a check on Cabinet's power. If they really want to call a bill, bring it to the House where we can have a formal debate and discussion about it and a motion to proceed in that manner, and then it's the will of the House. It's not kind of an amorphous discussion in Committee of the Whole about who's doing what. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Some Hon. Members
Question.
Committee Motion 520-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2), Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly: Committee Reports, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carried.
---Carried
Member for Nunakput.
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that Rule 4.4(8) be amended by:
Deleting the words "the Legislative Assembly e-petitions site" and replacing them with the words "an electronic petition site approved by the Speaker." Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6821
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6822
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Sorry, Madam Chair, for that. I'm ahead of myself. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that Rule 9.4(4) be amended by adding the word "not" after the words "Committee of the Whole shall...." Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6822
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6822
Some Hon. Members
Question.
Committee Motion 519-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Committee Review of a Bill - Not Ready to Proceed, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6822
The Chair Lesa Semmler
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Member for Nunakput.
Committee Motion 521-19(2): Committee Report 52-19(2): Report on the Review of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly- Petitions, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 5th
Page 6822
Jackie Jacobson Nunakput
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that Rule 4.4 (8) be amended by: Deleting the words "the Legislative Assembly e-petitions site" and replacing them with the words "an electronic petition site approved by the Speaker..." Thank you, Madam Chair.