EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
A section of the code reads: "I will not condone actions that are dishonest or which exploit positions of privilege for personal gain."
Mr. Chairman, we have set high standards for our own conduct and members have acted in accordance with these standards over the past two years.
Mr. Chairman, as Nunavut grows, it is our goal as Members of the Legislative Assembly to review our legislative base to ensure that it is appropriate for the needs of Nunavut.
As this piece of legislation specifically relates to elected MLAs, the Management and Services Board of the Legislative Assembly requested Nunavut's Conflict of Interest Commissioner, the Honourable Robert Stanbury, to conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant legislation and to make recommendations as to how we could establish a new conflict of interest regime in Nunavut.
His report, For a Culture of Integrity, has now been tabled in this House by the Speaker.
Mr. Chairman, members have met with Mr. Stanbury over the past year to discuss his report and recommendations.
As a result of this important work, Department of Justice officials were directed to draft the new Bill, which is before us this evening.
Mr. Stanbury was directed to carefully consider how Inuit traditional knowledge and the realities of representing small communities in Nunavut could be incorporated into a new Nunavut approach.
Mr. Stanbury consulted widely and well on this important aspect of this initiative.
Under the new Bill, the current Conflict of Interest Commissioner will be called the Integrity Commissioner.
The Commissioner will have a greater role in providing advice to members, ensuring an emphasis on prevention, rather than simply punishment.
The process is designed to be conducive to a quick resolution of issues.
Mr. Chairman, there are a number of Inuit values that have been incorporated in the new Bill to reinforce the approach that we want to take in the future.
Processes that are informal, flexible and timely, with a view to quickly restoring harmony;
Respect for individuality, independence and non-interference, in the context of community responsibility;
Advice by a trusted and respected person as problems arise;
Encouraging confidentiality and internal process to resolve problems, but recognizing that the community is responsible for monitoring behaviour and fostering accountability;
Dealing with problems in a progressive manner, recognizing differences between less significant problems and ones that would have a lasting impact on the community;
Encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their actions, while ensuring that respectful treatment, advice, counselling, discipline and remedial action are all part of the system; and
Ensuring consensus with respect to ultimate decisions on sanctions, and ensuring that these decisions are made by the whole community.
I would like to provide some illustrations of how these have been incorporated in the new legislation.
The new procedures will be simplified and rely on less paperwork.
Now, there will be one member's disclosure form, which will be accessible to the public.
The current forms require expensive accounting statements and complex financial assessments.
Now, there will simply be a need to disclose the nature of the private interest.
For example, a member would disclose that he or she owns a plumbing company or an outfitting operation, but not the specific value of the company.
The new legislation recognizes that in order to determine whether there is a conflict of interest, it is really only necessary to know the source and the nature of the private interest -- regardless of whether it is a small value or a large one, the principle is the same.
The new procedure allows members and their families to operate private businesses or have private interests in their communities.
These businesses may be a party to a contract with government – provided that the Integrity Commissioner authorizes it -- but only on the basis that the contract is unlikely to affect the member's performance of his or her duties of office.
As under the current legislation, Ministers are subject to much stricter rules.
The new Act expands the definition of family, including child and spouse.
It recognizes that any family member living with the member who is dependent on the member or the Member's spouse, or any child treated as a child of the Member, or anyone living in a conjugal relationship with the member is close enough to the member that their private interests must also be carefully scrutinized to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.
This is in keeping with both the Nunavut traditional approach to family, as well as more modern recognition of personal relationships.
The Integrity Commissioner will have a much more significant role to play in providing advice to members.
The current system essentially only requires disclosure forms to be given to the Clerk of the Assembly and asks the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to investigate and adjudicate conflict of interest complaints.
The new process puts more emphasis on prevention, by requiring annual meetings of members with the Integrity Commissioner.
It also encourages members to seek advice and written opinions from the Commissioner if they have any questions about whether their private interests may be in conflict with their public duty.
The new process will include a wider range of sanctions in the event of a request for review and a finding of a contravention. Our primary approach will be that if there has been a wrong, how can we make it right? For example, members may be asked to publicly acknowledge their conduct or pay compensation.
By putting the emphasis on remedial action rather than simply punishment, members will be encouraged to be open and to participate in solving the problem.  There is also a specific provision in the new legislation that if a contravention is found to have occurred, there will be no sanction if the member took all reasonable measures to prevent the contravention; the contravention was trivial, committed through inadvertence or an error of judgment made in good faith; or the member was acting in accordance with the Integrity Commissioner's advice, having disclosed all material facts known to the member.
Again, it is our hope that this provision will encourage members to participate fully in any review process, so that it is resolved quickly and with a minimum of expense.
However, because we do take this very seriously, the range of sanctions also provides that a member's right to sit and vote in the Legislative Assembly may be suspended, for a specified period or until a specified condition is fulfilled, or -- in the most serious of cases -- that the member's seat be declared vacant.
The integrity of the whole Legislative Assembly is compromised if a Member acts improperly for personal gain or the gain of others and it is therefore important that this sanction be in the list.
Members of the Legislative Assembly will have the ultimate say on what sanction will be imposed, and on issues such as paying for the legal costs of any party.
This would include legal costs of the person requesting the review, as well as the member.
However, it is the Integrity Commissioner who makes recommendations on sanctions or costs and the Legislative Assembly may only adopt or not adopt the recommendations; it may not alter the recommendation.
This is to ensure that the whole issue will not be reopened in the House and, in effect, another review conducted.
In some jurisdictions, it is only politicians who may lay a complaint. In Nunavut, we want members and the public to be able to make a request for a review, so that the people of Nunavut can continue to play a key role in monitoring behaviour and ensuring accountability.
In addition, the Legislative Assembly may request a review of a member, the Premier may request a review of a minister and the Integrity Commissioner may initiate a review on his or her own.
Mr. Chairman, Nunavut's Integrity Commissioner will be involved from start to finish in the event of an inquiry.
The Integrity Commissioner will also be the adjudicator.
We do not see the need for a separate adjudicator to become involved in an inquiry.
This will result in less duplication and less cost, and will use the Integrity Commissioner's skills, knowledge and judgment, which are all reasons why we have appointed the Commissioner to assist us in dealing with these types of issues.
Mr. Chairman, as I have noted earlier, the new Act continues to require members and, in particular, ministers, to arrange their personal affairs in a way that promotes public confidence in each member's integrity and to honour the expectation that they will operate with openness, objectivity and impartiality.
However, it also provides for some flexibility to deal with the realities in our communities.
The new Act recognizes that as Nunavut moves forward in its economic development, it will be increasingly important that individuals who enter public life are not required to sever all connection to their private businesses, nor require the same of their families.
We need entrepreneurs in our communities and we need their entrepreneurial spirit in the Nunavut Government.
Mr. Chairman, by allowing the Integrity Commissioner to review individual circumstances to determine if the public interest will be served by allowing members or their families to operate in the private sector and contract with government, we will ensure the highest standards of service to the public in our communities.
In some cases, this will require the use of arms-length trusts and -- in all cases -- the careful scrutiny of the Integrity Commissioner.
Coupled with the Government's commitment to open, fair and transparent contracting and hiring practices, we believe that we can ensure public confidence and impartiality in these important decisions.
Both Mr. Stanbury and I look forward to responding to any questions or comments that members may have.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Minister Ng. Mr. Minister you can approach the witness table with your witnesses now.
If you would like to introduce your officials at the witness table, so we will know how to address them.
To my right is the Honourable Robert Stanbury, Nunavut's Conflict of Interest Commissioner.
To my left is Mr. Ralph Armstrong, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice.
I would like to ask the members if they have any opening comments.
With the new Integrity Act, in the speaking notes, Mr. Ng was saying and I also believe that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit can be used as a foundation in this process.
Even though we have this in place, I would like to find more ways to integrate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
We have never actually experienced the actual Act and we don't know where the loopholes are.
But according to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit our elders, when we were younger they would discipline us every time they saw something wrong with us.
So according to their ways, we were disciplined and this has to be integrated more.
As Members of the Legislative Assembly we know that we can have problems in our lives.
In the past we were not using Inuit traditions as much and as residents of Nunavut we have an entirely different culture.
If an individual is reprimanded and if they take the discipline to heart that this is a way to get better and they can stop doing what they did wrong before.
So, this is Inuit traditional culture and language.
In our culture if anybody, who did something wrong, if they had conflict, according to the method of Inuit disciplining in spite of what the individual had done, they look for ways to improve and better the life of the individual.
According to our culture, we cannot change right away but perhaps by the second or third time when you are actually do what you were told by the elders the person can change their ways.
I have experienced it and I know it.
So, we have to look for ways to integrate this method of discipline into this, because I believe that people took a lot of time, it took a lot of time for individuals to develop this method.
And I know that this will be used as a foundation as Inuit, as people of Nunavut know in the communities in the small, especially in Nunavut, the communities are quite small and as Inuit people in one individual community everybody is related to each other.
So, if we are going to be dealing with conflict of interest how can we improve this.
For example, if your spouse and your children, by working with the people you love, we have to look for conflicts, according to the opening comments.
I have been thinking, in my community the population is about 8 hundred and they are all related to each other in one community and we have to support each other to run our private businesses.
When we want to develop Nunavut by supporting each other it helps the development at the community level because we have to find ways how to develop economically in our communities.
The smaller communities and the larger communities of Nunavut according to the way they educate themselves and not just us, once we experience it further we can make amendments.
But, personally, I am very proud to see this Bill.
But in the future I would like to see the results of the problem areas once we experience some problems.
We are a new government, we still haven't dealt with many Acts, so that we can reflect the needs of Nunavut.
We really don't know where we can improve the areas and as we experience this further we'll learn more on how to apply this in regards to the conflict of interest and it's going to deal with the justice system too.
When it also consists of the courts, we have to find ways to integrate Inuit disciplining ways or methods.
If you would like to make your general comments in regards to this, the floor is open now for it.
Bill 7, we are dealing with Bill 7.
I'll keep my comments a bit shorter than my colleague from Clyde River.
But I want to echo a few of the things he said in regards to small communities and we are related to a lot of people in our small communities.
Our family base is quite large, it's not like southern Ontario or Manitoba where you have constituencies with anywhere between 50,000 to 200,000 people in them.
Our constituencies have anywhere between 350 and 5000 people.
In the past and in the future you are going to have people running for politics that have a business background or involved in small business because civil servants have a tendency to stay in their jobs because they have security whereas business people come out and run for politics because they want to hopefully change the future.
And they have, you know, I'm not saying a better vision, but they have serious concerns about employment opportunities and how to make the community better.
In most cases, people in the private sector have a better grass roots approach to the community and they like to help it more.
I'm very pleased that we finally got around to this in the government in bringing forward an Integrity Act.
I like the sound of it already, more than conflict of interest.
Because when you say conflict of interest it says exactly what it says, conflict.
Where integrity has a much better meaning and it's a nice word.
I could continue on to say that what happened in the past is the past and I think the old government will go down in infamy as probably looked at and frowned upon and scorned by governments of the day.
I'm not trying to offend anybody but it's no secret when a Premier is taken out of his position because of conflict of interest that it hurt the whole territory and at the time we were part of that territory.
I certainly hope that nothing like that will happen in this territory because it is all taken to heart.
I read the Integrity Act and I will ask questions tonight about it in my reading of it.
It sounds and it feels more like an Act that members can feel more at ease, because when you are a businessperson in this government you feel uneasy.
I for one felt uneasy being a small business person in this government because if you go out and try and advance your livelihood and you are a politician you are frowned upon and even more so if you are a businessperson rather than a just a politician with no business interests.
So, I for one am happy that this has finally come about.
It's the second year of our term, I think it's good that it's come at this point because now if it's going to be tested we'll have time to look at it.
It's like everything else, it will be tested I think and we'll see how we fare with it.
But I'd like to thank you for all your hard work that you put into it Mr. Stanbury and in my short time that I've known you, I've got to know that I think I can feel confident that this Act will protect the public interest and the members also.
Koana, Mr. Chairman.
I'm going to make a brief general comment.
Yes. I believe that we need this Integrity Act and I'm very pleased that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit was used as its foundation.
When we say Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit we often think where and how we can integrate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, we still can't see how we are integrating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit but, although we say that we want to use Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, how can we start using it and make it visible.
According to Inuit culture and the method disciplining of an individual who was in conflict, the Inuit method is a method of discipline. If it is a young individual who's had a conflict, the elder disciplines them verbally and if the elder sees where the problem is, the individual being disciplined can listen to what he's been told or not, if he doesn't want to.
So, this is Inuit traditional knowledge that could be used, this method could be used.
The Conflict of Interest Act, the actual fact is that if an individual today has a problem they can't really talk about it.
So, it's up to the families and individuals according to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit if there was a problem experienced they could talk and resolve the situation that’s Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit tradition by talking with each other to resolve the situation by talking about it and resolving the issue and everything.
Everything goes back to normal and they improve their lives that's Inuit traditional knowledge.
I also want to say that if an individual infringes on a government statute according to the law, qallunaaq law, sometimes they are not allowed to talk to each other.
This creates more problems, as it does not resolve the situation.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit traditional knowledge is the fact that people talk to each other to resolve their issues.
The Conflict of Interest Commissioner knows that we might infringe or break laws, but how can we improve the Act by using Inuit traditional knowledge and by making it visible and useful and to integrate it into the system.
We can also use those traditional methods today so that they could be implemented in the future.
And, also I'm very happy about this Act, and I'm very interested to hear the fact that we are using Inuit traditional knowledge.
I have another member on my list under general comments.
Mr. Chairman I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Stanbury, for I think, a very fine piece of work and I'm very pleased to see this piece of legislation before the House.
I think that the strength of any government is its ability for openness and accountability to the public that it serves and I think that this Act goes a long way in helping to do that.
I think it also, personally I think it is good that it shows we are bringing it forward as a separate piece of legislation.
This shows the significance of taking it out of the Executive Council and Legislative Assembly Act and making it a stand alone Integrity Act.
That alone shows how we feel it is important to have something like that out there and separate.
I think the ideas that are integrated into this new piece of legislation are great.
Simplifying it so that the general public can take a look at it and understand it and they won't need to hire a lawyer to try and decipher it and figure out what it says.
I think that alone, people being able to understand what it is goes a long way in building that public confidence in the government and it clears up any possible misunderstandings a lot easier.
So I think it's great to see that in there.
I am also really glad to hear the emphasis on prevention instead of, I always believe it is better to be proactive and take care of a problem before it becomes a problem.
I am very glad to see that emphasis on prevention in this legislation.
As a couple of my colleagues already indicated, Nunavut, not only the communities, but Nunavut itself is a very small territory and there are people who are related to everybody in one way, shape or form if you go back far enough.
I think it is good that it shows and recognizes those types of things in the Act.
Again this is one of the pieces of legislation like I spoke about earlier today about having our legislation reflect our needs and our circumstances in Nunavut.
I am very pleased to see this one here do that and I will be asking a few questions just for clarification, but hopefully we will be seeing more legislation come forward with similar outcomes as we see here in this one and the values and the good work that have been put into it.
Mr. Chairman, when the minister was making his opening remarks, I was impressed with the work that was done. The comments talk about Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
I am glad to see that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is included in here, although in the past we hardly ever spoke about Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
I am glad to see that it has been included in a lot of the reports.
My colleague earlier spoke about how the Inuit used to discipline the people in their community and I agree with him about when we look at the reports and see Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit included in reports.
Hopefully, in the future all the items relating to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit will be implemented. When we talk about Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and later on I will be asking questions regarding Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, hoping that today, presently, we often go through hard times and under Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit we are working hard to integrate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit within the government and within the Canadian government.
As Canadians, we follow the Constitution and we often don't agree with it, parts of it, but, it's very important that we follow the rules and the legislation.
We often come across disputes regarding federal legislation and there are some things that we don't agree with but quite often, we think that under Inuit knowledge a lot of areas could be corrected.
So, this is one of the problems that we have as Inuit in Nunavut and I will be raising some questions on this to the minister.
The comments are very clear.
While we are on general comments, are there any other general comments.
Mr. Chairman this Bill 7 is related to all the members and it's put together very well and I appreciate the work that Mr. Stanbury did. I'm glad that the members were able to have some input and I just wanted to express how a great job Mr. Stanbury did and I know that this will help us with the work that we do within the Legislative Assembly.
It also relates to funding that we often seek and as Inuit quite often, Inuit complain about members helping their own relatives or their immediate family once they become members.
However, I am glad that there is this Integrity Act so that the people know that we have something to follow.
With this Act, it will disallow members from supporting only family and we quite often have worked not knowing what was in the Bill or the Act and now we have something to base our decisions on.
So I really like this bill as a member and those are my comments.
We are on general comments.
Madame Williams.
I also want to state my appreciation for the work that was done on this bill and I would also like to welcome Mr. Stanbury to the House.
He has done a lot of work and a great job.
I feel that the Inuit have to understand what we are working on and what we are dealing with this evening.
This Act is to ensure the members work honourably.
As a member, we will have to follow this Act and like the old Act it has been put together very well.