A complaint against former Sahtu MLA Paulie Chinna’s behaviour at Inuvik Regional Airport has been dismissed by the integrity commissioner.
NWT integrity commissioner David Phillip Jones issued his statement in a letter on Feb. 5.
“On Aug. 11, 2023, I received a complaint from Arnold Manuel alleging that then-MLA and minister Paulie Chinna had breached the MLAs’ Code of Conduct during a verbal interaction the previous day at the cafe at the Inuvik airport,” writes Jones. “The complaint alleges that Ms. Chinna was rude in making statements to Mr. Manuel, who was sitting at the table behind her.
“After considering the matter, I have dismissed the complaint… [because] there are insufficient grounds to warrant an inquiry. In my view, no further inquiry would be warranted because Ms. Chinna was not re-elected; there is a new assembly about to commence on its work; and there would be no practical purpose in inquiring further into this complaint.
“In making the decision to dismiss this complaint, I recognize and emphasize that the purpose of the members’ Code of Conduct is to set high standards which MLAs as leaders are expected to abide by in every aspect of their daily lives in order to earn and keep the respect of the citizens they serve. I want to emphasize the need for MLAs to respond to complaints in a timely manner. However, I also want to emphasize that it is not the purpose of the code to be used to advance personal vendettas or as a vehicle for making insubstantial complaints about members or ministers, who are human, not required to be perfect, and do not deserve to be criticized for the woof and warp of everyday life.
“I also want to flag that resigning or being defeated in an election does not end a member’s obligations under the act and the code. The commissioner will need to deal with each case on its own merits.”
Details of the dialogue between Ms. Chinna and Manuel were not released.