Integrity commissioner urges N.W.T. Assembly to pay nurse's legal fees after MLA tried to get her fired

The N.W.T.'s integrity commissioner is recommending that the Legislative Assembly pay the legal fees of a former nurse who says an MLA's harassment led to her leaving her job in Fort Resolution, N.W.T.

In a report released Monday, David Phillip Jones, the N.W.T.'s integrity commissioner, wrote that Richard Edjericon, the MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, had breached the MLA code of conduct and that it would "be unjust and unfair" for the assembly to pay Edjericon's legal fees but not those of his victim, Jennifer Patterson. 

Jones wrote that it is unusual for complainants to have their costs reimbursed.

"In my view, Ms. Patterson's complaint is such a circumstance," Jones wrote. 

Patterson worked as the nurse-in-charge of Fort Resolution from 2018 until 2022. In 2023, she filed a complaint about Edjericon. 

In October, Jones responded to that complaint and found Edjericon had repeated unproven allegations against Patterson and treated them as fact — including that she had been racist toward Fort Resolution residents, was putting community members at risk, and was rude and disrespectful toward other health centre employees.

Those allegations prompted the territory's health authority to suspend Patterson in December 2022 and order an external investigation "into allegations of unethical and unprofessional misconduct."

The external investigators reported a couple of months later that none of the allegations against Patterson were substantiated.

Jones wrote that Edjericon had launched a campaign against Patterson and undermined the integrity and credibility of the assembly as a whole. 

On Monday, he recommended that the Legislative Assembly cover the $325 hourly rate that the assembly pays for an MLA's legal counsel. 

Jones wrote that he considered submissions from Patterson's lawyer, as well Edjericon's and the legal counsel for the Legislative Assembly. 

Monday's report included a statement from Edjericon's lawyer, Steven Cooper, who wrote that "Edjericon's conduct was motivated by the wish to improve the delivery of health services." 

Cooper wrote that Edjericon needed to have legal representation to answer the complaint, but there there was no obligation or need for Ms. Patterson to use legal counsel for making her complaint.

Jones also considered whether it should be the Legislative Assembly's responsibility to cover Patterson's costs, or Edjericon himself. 

Toby Kruger, the legal counsel for the Legislative Assembly, wrote that since the Legislative Assembly was not a party to the investigation, it should not be ordered to pay costs.

"Finally, the Legislative Assembly is not akin to a professional regulator, and is not responsible for the conduct of MLAs. It has provided a system for facilitating complaints about members, and pays for the integrity commissioner as part of this system," Kruger wrote.

MLAs will need to accept or reject the integrity commissioner's recommendation within 15 days of sitting.

Cooper and Austin Marshall, Patterson's lawyer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.