Beleaguered N.W.T. MLA Steve Norn not vacating seat, says inquiry was 'huge step back for reconciliation'

Calling the inquiry that looked into his conduct a "huge step back for reconciliation" and a colossal waste of time and taxpayers money, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn said he will not be vacating his seat.

Wednesday, the sole adjudicator who headed the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly's inquiry into whether Norn violated the MLA code of conduct when he breached a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period last April after returning to the N.W.T. from Alberta, and made inaccurate statements about it to media, delivered his findings and recommendations.

Retired Judge Ronald L. Barclay concluded Norn had violated the Legislative Assembly's code of conduct. He recommended Norn's expulsion from the assembly, and that his seat be declared vacant.

"I don't agree with his decision," said Norn during a video news conference Thursday, speaking from his office in the Legislature.

'Lame attempt'

Norn said the recommendation is unprecedented and that it was "just a lame attempt" to give other MLAs a licence to put a motion forward to unseat him.

"That has never happened in Canada," said Norn.

"These folks did not elect me to office," he said referring to the adjudicator and other MLAs. "My constituents in my riding are the ones that did."

He said it was ironic that he has been working on recall legislation in the rules and procedures committee.

"That's the avenue to deal with this type of situation," he said.

He said the whole process could and should have been handled internally "because we should be policing ourselves." He added he's convinced the result of the inquiry was determined before it even started.

"I have little doubt that is the end result of my battle with the office of the clerk and, in particular, Mr. Mercer," said Norn. He was referring to his call for Mercer to resign as clerk of the legislature following allegations of bullying and creating a toxic work environment. An independent review of the allegations against Mercer found they were mostly unfounded.

Norn said there have been MLAs who broke the law, went to jail and still kept their seats.

"I got a ticket," he said, referring to two charges he faces for failing to isolate, stemming from two alleged infractions on April 17, one day before the end of a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period.

"If that breaches a standard, I don't know, but it was a ticket. A lot of us everyday get tickets. For me, that's just not enough to unseat, to lose your job over," he said.

Next steps

Norn, who said he has been fulfilling his role as MLA throughout the process, said he'll be meeting with his colleagues early next week, in a private caucus meeting.

"We'll see what they say ... and we'll go from there," he said.

He added that he doesn't know what he'll do if his colleagues eventually vote to expel him and declare his seat vacant.

His lawyer, Steven Cooper, said they would explore all possible legal avenues should that happen.

Cooper opened the news conference by spending about 35 minutes going through the report's findings and questioning them.

• Listen to the first hour of the news conference:

He also, on numerous occasions, questioned why the N.W.T. government and the Legislative Assembly insisted on hiring a judge and lawyers from the South to head the inquiry, and claimed they took adversarial positions toward his client.