One of the other concerns that I have in the briefing I received is the government’s assessment that we need to keep a certain percentage ownership versus rental. They referred to a lot of southern numbers. I’d like to just ask the department if they actually considered the cost of doing business in the North, which would be quite a bit higher and that we’re probably pretty close to where we should be as far as the ratios. Those people who do lease from us do have a lot more costs in their operations. Did the department look into that?

So is Mr. Guy’s referral thinking that they’re in favour of it?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My questions today, too, concern the general purpose office building. I’m not 100 percent agreeable to this concept. I have reviewed some of the briefings on the issue. I think we’re looking for some of the dollars that we’re saving over a longer period of time, then we could also do half a dozen things to look at what the territorial government does to save that kind of money. If we look at long term versus rewards, there are a lot of things that the territorial government does that we could eliminate costs.

One of the first questions I have for the Minister is concerning public consultation with some of the lessors that we have right now. Has there been any public consultation in the process of this building?

Just one other question. My other question was an issue from one of the students in my constituency, who indicated that the core of the review for residency is fairly lengthy. Would the department look to streamline that process as well?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. It’s concerning the financial assistance program. One of the concerns I’ve heard of during the campaign

was that we are fully funding a lot of the students, which I recommend is a good idea, but we have no agreements to see any of those benefits. Some of the fully funded students get jobs in the South and there’s no agreement for us to see any of their benefit in the North. Will the Minister see if that will be part of the review?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I proudly rise to thank the community of Hay River

for hosting the Honourable Governor General of Canada, Mr. David Johnston, and his wife. They were able to experience the great culture by visiting K’atlodeeche, and were able to visit with the leaders there and dance at the local community feast. They also had the opportunity to take a dogsled team ride with Mr. Danny Beck from Hay River.

The second day they were able to take a ride on the Great Slave Lake with a bombardier with one of our local fishers, Shawn Buckley, where they were able to pull a net and see the fishing industry in Hay River.

The couple then got to visit our Nordic facility in Hay River, where they were able to take themselves for a little ski as well as see the Arctic Winter Games trials for biathlon. Then the town hosted a meet and greet, where they were able to see some great performers, some youth, and receive a few gifts from the community. The Governor General also assisted with the promotion and revealing of a new sign for Brendan Green, Hay River’s own Olympian.

So I would like to thank all the organizers of the Governor General’s visit to Hay River. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the mover of the motion and a Member of the Board of Management I rise to say a few words. As you know, amongst other responsibilities, the Board of Management has a significant role with the administration of a number of laws and the appointment of statutory officers under those laws. One of our responsibilities is to appoint the members to the Human Rights Commission. We have taken this responsibility very seriously, Mr. Speaker.

When we appoint people to the statutory position, we appoint them with the confidence that we are appointing the people that best reflect the values and integrity expected of the office holder. One of those individuals appointed to the commission on the recommendation of the 16th Assembly and the

Board of Management was Mr. William Turner.

Recently it was brought to the attention of the Board of Management that in the early days of this Assembly, documents had been taken from the Clerk’s office. In the context of investigating this theft, our Sergeant-at-Arms and Law Clerk interviewed Mr. Turner in his capacity of working as a security guard on the weekend in question. He

denied taking these documents. Subsequently, Mr. Turner was quoted in the local media as admitting to taking these documents. This was of great concern to the Board of Management. Therefore, we provided Mr. Turner with a notice of the fact that the Board of management was considering a motion to revoke his appointment, and provided him with the opportunity to respond to the allegations and to the concerns of the board. Mr. Turner did respond in writing and the board reviewed his written submissions very carefully. He admitted to both taking these documents and to lying to the House officers about that. By way of explanation, he said that he took the documents in an impulsive fashion and that his own personal attributes contributed to him acting impulsively. We recognize that Mr. Turner had one impulsive act. However, he compounded that one impulsive act by lying about this matter over a number of days and he implicitly attempted to deflect blame to others.

The board considered Mr. Turner’s submission carefully. We also weighed the responsibilities that statutory officers have to act with integrity and honour. Our officers are respected representatives of the people of the Northwest Territories. We considered the fact that this is a breach of our trust that happened in this building and that this is a place where we have an expectation that we must trust everyone around us. After careful consideration and debate, we decided that Mr. Turner’s actions were not consistent with the actions we and the people of the Northwest Territories expect from our statutory officers, and that we had no alternative but to bring forth this motion.

I ask that the Members respect the deliberation of the Board of Management and vote in favour of the motion.

: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Human Rights Act provides for the establishment of the a Human Rights Commission and the appointment of commission members;

AND WHEREAS a commission member holds office during good behaviour for the term of four years;

AND WHEREAS Section 17(9) of the Human Rights Act provides that the Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly, may, for cause, remove a commission member from office;

AND WHEREAS William Turner was appointed a member of the Human Rights Commission on November 1, 2010;

AND WHEREAS William Turner has admitted to taking, without permission, documents from the Legislative Assembly office while on duty as a security guard;

AND WHEREAS William Turner has further admitted to lying to officers of the Legislative Assembly about taking this documentation;

AND WHEREAS this Assembly is in the view that these actions are contrary to the good conduct and integrity expected of a statutory officer holder;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the Assembly recommend to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories that the appointment of William Turner as a member of the Human Rights Commission be revoked effective immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted