'Outright insult'
Yellowknife MLAs on cabinet vote to extend their terms
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 12, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After a heated exchange in the legislative assembly Monday, MLAs enabled themselves to ask the federal government to extend their term in office with a vote of 11 to seven in favour.
How Yk MLAs voted
- Glen Abernethy: Health Minister - Yes.
- Wendy Bisaro: Frame Lake MLA - No.
- Bob Bromley: Weledeh MLA - No.
- Daryl Dolynny: Range Lake MLA - No.
- Robert Hawkins: Yellowknife Centre MLA - No.
- Bob Mcleod: Premier - Yes.
- David Ramsay: Justice Minister - Yes.
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Before opening debate, Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, who introduced the motion, offered to change its wording, taking out the time frame of October 2016 and replacing it with the more open-ended request to extend the total lifespan of the 17th assembly to "a period not exceeding five years."
Even though it wasn't a confidence vote on the government, it was MLAs on cabinet that gave the "yes" side a decisive victory, casting seven yea votes as a block to postpone the October 2015 general election and avoid the suggested conflict with federal and municipal elections taking place around the same time.
Michael Miltenberger, the seconder of the motion, was the lone cabinet minister to speak during the debate leading up to the vote.
"I wish we had heard from every single one of those cabinet ministers because they all hid behind the block," Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins told Yellowknifer shortly after the vote.
David Ramsay, Glen Abernerthy and Premier Bob McLeod are the Yellowknife MLAs on cabinet who voted for the option to extend their terms.
All four non-cabinet Yellowknife MLAs voted against the motion and criticized the government for breaking precedent to enact the changes for themselves instead of debating a term extension for the next assembly, which would have avoided the perceived conflict of interest.
"I am not in favour of this motion. This motion trumps on the very foundation of democracy," said Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny.
"Anything that would lengthen the term of the original mandate bestowed on me by the people of Range Lake would, in my humble opinion, be a breach of the social contract of such principles and values."
Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro said 99 per cent of the feedback she received from the public since Thursday when the government announced a vote were against the government extending its own mandate.
"I do not believe that you have the moral or ethical authority to even request this action," stated one constituent's e-mail.
"Public perception carries a really big weight and there are many people who believe we are doing this for personal gain," said Bisaro during the debate.
Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley used up most of the 20-minute maximum time for each MLA to weigh in on the debate by quoting from feedback received from constituents. He cited a lack of public engagement as the inspiration behind reading public comments onto the record in the house.
Feedback he quoted from the public included:
"The democratic chill sweeping the country is very disturbing. When I heard the motion yesterday, my first thought was that the (Prime Minister's Office) is now dictating the GNWT, not only on devolution and environmental regulations, but on democratic rights and freedoms.
"The proposal to extend the life of the legislature and its unelected premier by another year is an outright insult to voters. It suggests that the electorate isn't capable of holding more than one thought at the same time, and that voters will be overcome with fatigue if we are asked to exercise our franchise three times in one month. Nonsense."
"What lessons would Ukraine learn from us at this crucial time as they walk towards democracy? If Putin had decided to consult the Russian people for two days over a weekend over extending his job for another year, we would have said he was making a farce of democracy.
"There are many challenges and decisions to be made during this devolution transition, and we need closer public scrutiny during this time, not less. This includes the public being able to vote in who they want to continue steering the devolution ship."
Point of order
A few minutes into Bromley's reading of public comments, Groenewegen interrupted with a point of order, saying it is against the rules of the legislative assembly for MLAs to quote extensively from documents not before the house.
"I have heard the words unethical, immoral, self-serving. If (MLAs) want to stand up and say those things, go right ahead, but don't hide behind 'and I quote,'" she said.
"I cannot believe," said Bromley while gathering his thoughts to fight the point of order. "The whole issue here, Mr. Speaker, is the voice of the people. We are trying to change our election process here. We are taking away the voice of the people, we have given them the weekend to comment and some of them have. This is their chance to have their voice heard.
"This is the voice of the people that's speaking here and it is my right and duty and privilege to fulfill that by making sure their comments are heard in public."
Speaker Jackie Jacobson agreed, striking down the point of order.
After several more quotes from the public, Bromley made a motion to amend the motion to give the assembly some flexibility to hold the next general election any time within the month of October 2015. That motion was voted down, with just Bromley and Bisaro supporting it.
Ultimately, aside from cabinet, the swing votes that approved the request to extend the life of the 17th assembly were cast by Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake Jr., Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche, Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya and Groenewegen.
MLAs will now put in a request with the federal government to alter the NWT Act and extend their original four-year mandate, and could bring a bill to the floor of the assembly before the end of this government when the issue will be debated again.
Both Ramsay and Abernethy responded to Yellowknifer's request to comment, insisting they supported the motion because it is not a final vote to approve an extension.
Over the weekend, Ramsay said he received "a lot of feedback" from constituents, most of which was negative.
"I certainly take into consideration what my constituents were saying, but again we're very far away from a decision," he said.
For Abernethy, the decision to eliminate the October 2016 election date created a motion he could support.
"Bottom line is the motion was amended so it didn't prescribe a solution," he said. "What that means is there is opportunity for continued discussion."
E-petition opened
Former city councillor Paul Falvo created a petition on the NWT legislative assembly website calling for an early election.
The legislature's actions in the last week also points to flaws in the NWT's consensus-style system where cabinet holds sway over most votes in the legislature, he said.
"If it was a true consensus, there would be no cabinet," said Falvo. "This may also highlight the problem of a lack of political parties here because there is no way to really punish anyone for this except the individual members. Hopefully people remember this in 2016 when they finally have the chance to vote."
As of press time, the petition was up to 96 signatures.
