Notes from the legislative assembly
Convicts could face 5-year ban from
seeking office
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Monday, March 6, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
MLAs want anyone convicted of a violent offence under the criminal code to be ineligible to become a member of the legislative assembly for five years.
The recommendation came Tuesday in a report on a review of members' conduct guidelines.
In December, the local YWCA chapter urged a standing committee to consider a limitation on candidates who have been convicted of domestic violence or threats of violence.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green said members of the public made such recommendations "in reference to epidemic levels of family violence in the NWT," which are second-highest in the country.
The five-year limitation would not be retroactive.
"Our report is focused on improving accountability into the future," said Green.
Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm against his wife in June 2015, after an incident in Fort Providence a few months earlier.
Nadli was elected as an MLA again that fall, after serving just eight days of his 45-day sentence.
Lobbyist registry proposed
MLAs suggested Tuesday there might be a need for a lobbyist registry in the NWT.
Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly posed the idea to Premier Bob McLeod after learning the GNWT spent $126,800 on services from Ottawa lobbyist Earnscliffe Strategy Group between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2016.
Cabinet attended federal meetings in Ottawa during that time.
The premier confirmed the contract but said "Earnscliffe was not directly involved in preparing any materials or strategies for cabinet's November 2016 mission to Ottawa."
Earnscliffe briefed the GNWT on the "government environment in Ottawa" and provided "ongoing advice on our federal government engagement strategy," McLeod said.
He did not directly answer O'Reilly when asked if the GNWT needs a lobbyist registry.
Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart posed the question to Louis Sebert, minister responsible for public engagement and transparency, but he said a registry would be "overly cumbersome."
"We simply don't feel that is necessary as a small jurisdiction," Sebert said. "There is, of course, a considerable amount of information regarding our contacts with those outside of the government."
GNWT softens power rate increases
The GNWT has directed the Public Utilities Board to increase cost recovery rates.
That means increasing power rates by no more than one per cent a year, as the board pushes communities to pay closer to 100 per cent of the true cost of providing power.
Many communities pay more or less than what it actually costs to provide power to them - some as little as 75 per cent.
The GNWT told the board that customers should pay 90 to 110 per cent of the true cost of power but to move communities to that range slowly to avoid spikes in utility bills.
That doesn't mean power bills won't increase.
Power corp. increased power rates by 4.8 per cent between Aug.1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
At the time, power corp. had asked the board for that increase to remain in effect and for an additional four per cent increase to come into play in each of the following two years.
That decision has yet to be made.
If that proposal goes through, communities paying less than 90 to 110 per cent of the true cost of power could see as much as a five per cent rate hike if the board also applies a one per cent increase, according to Remi Gervais, policy analyst with the Department of Public Works and Services.
But Sexton said many communities already pay close to 100 per cent of the true cost of power.
ATIPP changes coming
The GNWT is making headway on updates to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Justice Minister Louis Sebert announced Feb. 28 the government will have a proposal to amend the act completed by spring.
"Since the act came into effect in 1996, there have been a number of changes in Canadian policies, practices and legislation related to access to information or protection of privacy," Sebert said.
Although changes were made again in 2004 and 2005, "further changes are required to the act to respond to changes in technology and a variety of other issues," he said.
Sebert has previously suggested changes could be coming to fees for filing access to information requests, which cost $25.
A privacy framework will also be created by the spring, which is meant to guide GNWT staff on how to follow the act.
Staff currently receive face-to-face training on the ATIPP Act, Sebert said, but some of that training will be moving online this month.
