MLAs miss deadline on expense reports
List of eight includes Speaker and two cabinet ministers
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, February 8, 2016
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Two cabinet ministers, the speaker and five other MLAs will have to apply to the NWT Supreme Court so they can take their seats in the legislative assembly when it resumes late next week.
The eight leaders either failed to submit required financial disclosure reports on time or filed incomplete reports to Elections NWT. The Elections and Plebiscites Act requires the information to be submitted by 5 p.m. on Jan. 25. The reports contain information about who donated to candidates' campaigns, how much was donated, how much candidates spent during the election, as well as bank statements.
The eight are Speaker and Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty, cabinet minister and Hay River South MLA Wally Schumann, cabinet minister and Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses, Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart, Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake Jr., Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely, Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli and Nunakput MLA Herb Nakimayak.
"Due to our remoteness here in the Sahtu, we had to wait on the mail and our receipts," McNeely said about why he missed the deadline.
Testart said a bank statement was not available until after the deadline, making his report incomplete. He called it a good faith error and lamented that events have unfolded to force the application to the Supreme Court.
"We did our best," Testart said. "We got in everything that was required except that one piece that was required that wasn't available."
Chief Electoral Officer Nicole Latour said about one-third of the 60 candidates in the Nov. 23 territorial election failed to meet the deadline or filed incomplete reports, a figure that includes the eight elected MLAs.
"I think it's unprecedented," she said about the number of candidates.
Latour said she's aware that candidates tried to file, but had issues related to mail service or a lack of bank branches in some communities.
The law sets out that if the deadline is missed, MLAs can be prevented from voting in the assembly or from taking their seats in the chamber. They must now must apply to the Supreme Court and have a judge rule whether they have an "authorized excuse" for missing the timeline. The law states that once the applications are submitted, the MLAs can sit unless a judge decides otherwise. Tim Mercer, clerk of the legislative assembly, was notified by Latour on Jan. 27 about the missed deadline.
"It's the first time I've seen it in my 13 years as clerk," Mercer told News/North on Feb. 5.
Mercer said some of the MLAs on the list have filed reports, but information is still needed to deem them complete. He said some of the administrative information required is relatively minor.
"Regardless of how much information is required, they still have to apply to the Supreme Court," he said.
There are discussions ongoing about having the legislative assembly's law clerk file the application on behalf of all eight, Mercer said.
MLAs who missed the deadline will be fined $250, as set out in the law, and will have to forfeit a $200 nomination payment.
As well, they will pay to file the paperwork with the court system.
