We don't know why, but a lot of the stuff we heard at last week's hearing by a Legislative Assembly committee on proposed legislation to create an ombudsperson for the GNWT grated on our nerves. It sounded like fingernails scraping on a chalkboard.
Just the word 'ombudsperson' is grating, but that's what the GNWT is using, so we'll go with it.
The hearing got off to a bad start for us when committee chair Kam Lake MLA Keiron Testart noted the committee has "long supported" an ombudsperson for the NWT.
So what was the point of the hearing if the committee has already made up its mind, apparently years ago? We know the answer will be that it's to seek input on legislation, but the important decision has already been made.
And we never heard a convincing argument as to why the GNWT needs an ombudsperson.
It seems the GNWT wants an ombudsperson because it wants to be a big boy government. Other governments have one, so the NWT should have one, too.
However, one of the main reasons there's an ombudsperson in other jurisdictions is the size and complexity of their governments, and the remoteness of their politicians from the people.
Just consider the numbers. In Canada, there are about 37 million people and 338 Members of Parliament. That works out to each MP representing an average of more than 109,000 people (well over twice the population of the NWT).
In the NWT, there are about 41,000 people represented in the Legislative Assembly by 19 MLAs. That works out to an average of about 2,150 constituents per MLA.
As for access to politicians, best of luck trying to get five minutes to chat with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In the NWT, we have witnessed Premier Bob McLeod have informal and unscheduled discussions with many people.
Do you really need an ombudsman – sorry, ombudsperson – when you can take your complaint right to the top of the territorial government?
But we probably wouldn't have said much about the idea of an ombudsperson, except Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli noted that, according to previous estimates, an ombudsperson's office might cost $400,000 in the first year and $600,000 in the second year.
A million dollars for two years of an ombudsperson? That is just ridiculous.
That is enough money to do many worthwhile things. Maybe buy pieces of medical equipment for a hospital, or provide kids with sports gear, or help the GNWT pay the Town of Hay River for providing rescue services on highways.
Here's a radical idea. Instead of creating an office of an ombudsperson and wasting a gross amount of money, the GNWT as it is currently constituted should deal with any complaints from people. We don't think the government needs an ombudsperson to tell them how to do that. Plus, an ombudsperson cannot tell anyone to do anything, but can just make recommendations.
If an office of an ombudsperson is established, we will be first in line to register a complaint – that the GNWT has wasted money by creating an ombudsperson.