Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories - Members' Conduct Guidelines

As a Member elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, I acknowledge that I have accepted a responsibility to serve the people of the Northwest Territories. I seek wisdom, strength, courage, honesty, and caring from the people of the North, both from those who have built our past and from those who are shaping our future.

As a legislator elected to govern the Northwest Territories, I will serve to do my utmost to:

Hear the voices of all our people;
Preserve our traditions and bridge them with new ways to build our future;
Provide legislation, policies, and services for the good of the people as individuals, families, and communities;
Promote the equality of all our people;
Distribute resources fairly and justly, and to
Respect and honour our land and all its inhabitants.

As a legislator, I will do my best to fulfill my duties to the Legislature, the public, my constituents, and my colleagues with integrity and honour.

To my constituents, I owe my best efforts at effective representation as well as accountability, honesty, fairness, and courtesy.

To the legislature, I owe respect as well as dedication to my role in ensuring the integrity of our government and in earning, through my actions, the confidence of the people.

To the public, I owe a responsibility to work for the well-being of all residents of the Northwest Territories.

To my colleagues, I owe fairness and respect for our differences and the duty to work together with goodwill for the common good.

I acknowledge human vulnerabilities and will strive to bring honour to my role as a representative of our people.

I will not act, nor condone others in acting, in ways which exploit, slander, or discriminate against others. I will not act, nor condone others in acting in ways which are dishonest or which exploit positions of privilege for personal gain.
As a legislator, I acknowledge a vision and a responsibility to improve the life of our people and I will strive to act in creative ways to overcome the hardships, which destroy life and hope, and the human frailties, which fall upon us.

So long as I am a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I will be true to these obligations, and will work to preserve the greatness of our land and our people.


Statutory Declarations of Residency

The statutory declaration is used to establish the Member’s ordinary and usual place of residence and his or her entitlement to certain monetary allowances.

Each Member who is not a Minister or the Premier must swear a statutory declaration before the Law Clerk, indicating the place where the Member ordinarily resides when they are not attending Sessions of the Legislative Assembly, meetings of its Committees, or other business as a Member as defined in Section 22 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act.

Members are required to swear a Statutory Declaration of Residence within 60 days of being sworn in as a Member. A Member who moves from the place indicated on their sworn Statutory Declaration of Residence is obliged to swear a new statutory declaration before the Law Clerk without delay.


Contact the Office of the Clerk for more information.


Annual Report Respecting Members’ Indemnities and Expenses

The Speaker is required to table a report before the House that sets out, in detail, the indemnities and allowances paid to Members and the expenses incurred by Members, in the previous fiscal year.

The information provided for each Member includes:

a) the total amount of basic indemnity (annual salary) paid to each Member for the fiscal year;
b) the total amount of additional indemnities paid to each Member holding an additional office, for the fiscal year;
c) the total amount of allowance for expenses paid to each Member for the fiscal year;
d) the total amount of northern allowance paid to each Member for the fiscal year;
e) the total amount of expenses incurred by each Member under the capital accommodation allowance, detailed by category, for the fiscal year;
f) the total amount of expenses incurred by each Member under the constituency work expense allowance, detailed by category, for the fiscal year.

Contact the Office of the Clerk for more information.


Members’ Attendance at Committee Meetings

Section 33 of The Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Members’ Guidelines states that quorum for all Committees is a majority of Committee Members.

Members are contacted in advance of a meeting and must commit to attend for the duration of the meeting. If a Member is unable to attend for the full duration of the meeting, and quorum for that meeting cannot be achieved, an alternate is contacted to attend for the full duration in their place. Alternates are called for a Committee meeting as require on a rotational basis.

It is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that all Members are fulfilling their Committee obligations by:
• attending regularly and on time;
• preparing for meetings; and
• participating in meetings in a productive way.
Actions which warrant the discipline of the Committee include, but are not limited to:
• violating the Members’ Conduct Guidelines (link to guidelines);
• attending a meeting under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering substance; and
• being absent from meetings without a valid excuse.

If a Member acts in a way as to warrant discipline, the Committee may suspend the Member from the Committee for a period of up to three days in duration. If a Member has been suspended from the Committee he or she will be reported as absent and the Chair of the Committee will report said suspension to the House under Reports of Committees.

Pursuant to Section 2 of the Indemnities, Allowances and Expense Regulations, the Chair of the Committee, or at the request of the Chair, the Clerk of the Committee, shall record a Member’s absence at a meeting of the Committee, noting the reason for the absence.

The Board of Management sets out the following possible explanations for a Member’s failure to attend a meeting of the committee:
• the absence is in the course of the Member’s duties as a Member or Minister or as the Premier or Speaker;
• the absence is a result of the Member’s illness or injury due to bereavement; or
• the absence is due to personal reasons.

If a Member is absent for six meeting days in a calendar year without a valid explanation, the Committee shall recommend to the House that the Member be removed from the Committee.

Contact the Office of the Clerk for more information.