Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this motion simply lays out the definitions that clarify later amendments that will be proposed. Quite plainly, it speaks to what a political party is, what a registered political party is, and what an authorized representative is in terms of the regulations that will be proposed under the act.

Again, this provides absolute certainty to Northerners and, in particular, those who are subject to either the GNWT's code of conduct or other statutes that make explicit reference to Territorial political parties without defining them. This clarifies that issue and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased today to speak to Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. The bill provides for a series of changes that will offer much-needed flexibility and modernization of our system of elections in the NWT. I would like to acknowledge the work of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures in bringing forward these comprehensive changes to our elections legislation, along with recognizing the contributions of the Chief Electoral Officer, members of the public, and former candidates in their submissions to the review of the...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that this Assembly formally revokes the pleasure of the Assembly from the appointment of the honourable Member for Hay River South as a Member of the Executive Council, and further that this Assembly recommends that a Member be chosen to be a Member of the Executive Council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This amendment is separate from the previous suite of amendments that was designed to register and regulate territorial political parties. One of the concerns raised, and we've heard it in the debate was around creating an unfair advantage for independent candidates or incumbents to compete with a political organization with superior resources.

This amendment allows anyone who wishes to be a candidate in an election to use up to $30,000 a year to promote their candidacy. One of the realities of being an incumbent in this House is we are able to hold the public's attention...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 24 be amended by adding the following after clause 36:

36.1 The following is added after section 83:

83.1. The Chief Electoral Officer shall maintain a register of political parties and shall register in it any political party that files with the Chief Electoral Officer an application in the approved form that contains

(a) the names of at least 60 electors indicated by the signature of each elector who collectively represents a minimum of three electoral districts, and who identify as Members of the political party;

(b) the constitution of the political...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know which way the wind is blowing on this amendment, so I won't belabour the point too much, but for the purposes of posterity, I wish to make sure these amendments make their way into the official record so that we can see clearly what was being proposed and clearly how these amendments were designed to create options for our residents.

There are a few more amendments I will move as well for the same purposes, but we don't have to belabour the point, and I won't be asking for recorded votes. Thank you.

Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chair. I know it is not our typical process to allow the mover to close this debate, but I welcome the opportunity. I just wanted to comment on Members who have raised concerns about consultation, and I am not going to pretend like this isn't a big issue, but we talk about it all the time and typically around election cycles, and then we don't talk about until the next election cycle, and so on and so forth.

This is an attempt to draw public debate into a very specific proposal that was not proposing to transform this Chamber today into a political party...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 24 be amended in subclause 2(4) by adding the following proposed definitions in alphabetical order:

"authorized representative" meaning a person authorized by a political party to provide the necessary consent to enable a person to be identified on a ballot as a member of a political party;

"political party" means an association, organization, or affiliation of electors comprising a political organization, one of the purposes of which is to nominate and support candidates in elections;

"registered political party" means a political organization that is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee would like to consider Tabled Document 215-18(3), Capital Estimates, 2019-2020, with the Departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Infrastructure, and Finance reviewed in that order; and then further to consider Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to a matter that is very concerning to the Members of this House and the citizens of the Northwest Territories, and that is the potential for a strike that will be taken by the Union of Northern Workers, following the reported failure of mediation between the UNW and the GNWT's negotiators. We, as a territory, have more than enough divisive strike actions in our history that Northerners know they don't want another one.

Mr. Speaker, 4,000 employees of the territorial public service have been without contract for two and a half years...