The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly convened May
26th to June 12th, 2020, to continue the
second session of the 19th Assembly, which was
unexpectedly cut short in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
primary purpose was to pass the 2020-21 budget, however, the
Assembly did consider the following bills:
Bill 6-19(2) - An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and
Executive Council Act. Legislatures across the world have
grappled with the issue of parliamentary accountability in the time
of a pandemic when in person meetings may not be desirable or
possible. The NWT legislature is no exception. The sole purpose of
Bill 6 is to permit the Assembly to conduct all, or a portion of, a
session by teleconference or videoconference, and to permit members
to participate in a session by way of teleconference or
videoconference at the discretion of the Speaker. This bill will
ensure that any future sessions which are held remotely are clearly
authorized and should
