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Frustrated at colleagues' absences Hawkins says personal reasons taking priority for some MLAs after missing Wildlife Act meetings
Graeme McNaughton
Northern News Services
Published Friday, June 21, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Public consultations for a revamped NWT Wildlife Act are being slowed down due to a growing number of absences by committee members, according to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure.
"There is definitely a frustration to it because we need to get this business done," said Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, the chair of the committee leading public consultations on the proposed changes to the Wildlife Act.
Hawkins said the situation got so bad that a scheduled public meeting in Inuvik last week became "more of an information session" when three out of the six committee member MLAs failed to attend the meeting, and no alternate members were available.
Hawkins, who refused to point to individual MLAs, said one member called only 30 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, notifying him that he wouldn't be in attendance.
To be an officially sanctioned meeting, there must be at least four regular or alternate committee members in attendance.
Hawkins said the problem of absenteeism has reached the point where he has informed the committee clerk, Jennifer Knowlan, two weeks ago to inform alternate members of the committee to be prepared to go to meetings on short notice to fill in for absent members.
The legislative assembly can remove MLAs from committees if they miss six meeting dates in a calendar year without a valid reason.
"Committee meetings are part of the job," said Hawkins. "For some members, personal reasons are taking priority. For others, it's unclear."
Of the six members of the committee, Hawkins, Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley, and Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli attended the meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik.
Frederick Blake Jr., MLA for Mackenzie Delta, said he was attending funerals on the days of the meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik earlier this month, and was therefore unable to travel.
Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche said he was unavailable to travel "due to constituency business in my own riding."
Menicoche would not offer any further comment.
Robert Bouchard, MLA for Hay River North, said he was unable to attend meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik due to prior commitments, including hosting an auction in his riding.
"We're juggling our time, and we make it when we can," said Bouchard. "We have a lot of balls up in the air."
Blake, Menicoche and Bouchard were all present at the public meeting for the Wildlife Act in Fort Simpson on Monday.
The meeting was rescheduled after the original May meeting was cancelled when four out of six committee members said they were unable to travel due to health and other reasons.
Instances of absenteeism are recorded, with reports tabled in the legislature by the Speaker, which are later published on the legislative assembly's website.
The last report, pertaining to committee meetings held between May 26 and Oct. 16, 2012, was filed in late November of last year.
Jackie Jacobson, the Speaker of the legislative assembly and MLA for Nunakput, did not respond to a request for comment.
Knowlan was unable to provide the attendance records for previous Wildlife Act meetings before press time.
This past April, Menicoche missed a day and a half of meetings in Inuvik due to "excessive drinking the night before."
Menicoche resigned as chair of the legislative assembly's Committee on Priorities and Planning as a result.
In a statement following the April absence, Menicoche said he would "be taking the necessary steps this week to address my personal problems, which includes use of the Members' Assistance Program to seek treatment."
An MLA speaking off the record said Blake had missed a day of meetings over that weekend for the same reason.
Blake would not comment to Yellowknifer or other media outlets at the time, but did say in an interview with the Native Communications Society of the NWT earlier this month that he had missed the meetings due to personal reasons, and that alcohol was a factor.
In April, Daryl Dolynny, MLA for Range Lake, told Yellowknifer that Blake apologized to the committee during a closed-door meeting and said he would be seeking treatment for substance abuse.
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