Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Tuesday August 25 2015 7 POLITICS TERRITORIAL Broadcaster Dneze Nakehko to run for Nahendeh MLA By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Well-known Northern broadcaster Dneze Nahehko is taking a step back from his work with CKLB Radio in Yellowknife to run for MLA in his home riding of Nahendeh in the Dehcho region. The 38 year-old radio program director with the Native Communications Society of the NWT said he had been mulling over the possibility of running for ofce for a long while and decided to take the plunge with encouragement from his family com- munity members and even NWT MP Den- nis Bevington. Whilepartofthemoveiscertainlyfollowing in family footsteps - his father Jim Antoine was premier of the NWT from 1998 to 2000 - he said his main motivation is a strong de- sire for change at the territorial level. I just dont have a lot of faith in the cur- rent crop of leadership there and I dont think theyre taking us in a good direction Nakehko told the Journal. Theres so much opportunity and potential in the North and I think theres so many voices that are not being listened to. I would like to step up and try to be the voice of the people that are not being heard when it comes to a lot of the big decisions being made on everyones behalf. Nakehko said he feels the territorial lead- ership has been cowtowing to the Conser- vative agenda on issues like regulatory re- form resource development and land claims. Although it is important to work with our federal counterparts we still have to listen to the people Nakehko said. If elected MLA Nakehko said he would be a strong advocate for the completion of unsettled land claims in the territory which he thinks should warrant as much dedica- tion and effort by the GNWT as was afforded the devolution negotiations that wrapped up early last year. One of the main things I see is to bring to some sort of completion our outstand- ing treaty rights and obligations meaning completing the Dehcho Process he said. I think thats a huge thing that would bring about some certainty in a lot of different areas Everything is connected to that everything that affects peoples lives in the community when you talk about hous- ing education health resource develop- ment but also it will be a huge piece of the puzzle when you talk about the rest of the territory. As well he wants to see major improve- ments to the highways system in the Na- hendeh region especially Highway 7 to Fort Liard Nahanni Butte and the B.C. border. Theres a huge discrepancy. When youre coming into the territory from Alberta we have this huge sign theres a place to pull over theres an interpretive centre and when you come into the NWT from British Columbia the pavement ends. Its a big gravel road and a little sign he said. So I think we need to put a whole lot more effort into that area. Though he now lives and works in Yellow- knife Nakehko was born and raised in Fort Simpson or Liidlii Kue and said he contin- ues to consider the community home. Some of the good advice I got was that if youre going to be an elected ofcial then you should represent the people you believe in he said. Ive always believed in the people from over there and even though I live over here my hearts over there. All the work Ive done in my life Ive kind of done it with my people andcommunityinmindThepeopleIbelieve in are the people back home in Nahendeh. If they would have me Id be proud to represent themandrelaytheirvoicesataterritoriallevel. Nakehko was in Fort Liard over the week- end for a youth hand games tournament and said he will now be visiting the communities of the region over the next 14 weeks until the election. The district consists of Fort Liard Fort Simpson Jean Marie River Nahanni Butte Trout Lake and Wrigley. Im going to be hitting the road and the river and the air he said. Nahendehs got six communities and Id like to spend a sig- nicant amount of time in every community to hear the concerns of the people and see what they really want. PhotoJimAntoine Dneze Nakehko right and his son Ka enjoy a re at the arbour in Fort Liard where the community hosted its rst ever hand games tournament over the weekend. NWT election 2015 Whos running for MLA so far By MEAGAN WOHLBERG The majority of MLAs in the Northwest Territories plan to run again in the coming territorial election on Nov. 23 along with some fresh faces. Here is a breakdown of what current MLAs are planning this fall along with the conrmed candidate hopefuls. MLA Riding Running again Unsure as of Aug. 25 2015 Michael Nadli Dehcho Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake No Glen Abernethy Great Slave Robert Bouchard Hay River North Jane Groenewegen Hay River South Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes David Ramsay Kam Lake Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta Jackson Lafferty Monfwi Kevin Menicoche Nahendeh Jackie Jacobson Nunakput Daryl Dolynny Range Lake Norman Yakeleya Sahtu Michael Miltenberger Thebacha Bob Bromley Weledeh No Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre Bob McLeod Yellowknife South Other conrmed candidates Dneze Nakehko CKLB broadcaster in Nahendeh Julie Green non-prot consultant and for- mer CBC journalist in Yellowknife Centre Wally Schumann former Hay River Mtis Council president in Hay River South Dan Wong Yellowknife city councillor in Yellowknife North Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife city coun- cillor in Yellowknife North Rod Brown co-founder of Discovery Min- ing Services in Range Lake Jan Fullerton Skills Canada NWT execu- tive director in Frame Lake. The ofcial nomination period opens when the writ is formally dropped on Monday Oct. 26. The deadline for ling nomination papers and photos is 200 p.m. Friday Oct. 30. Candidates will have until 500 p.m. to withdraw their candidacy. Changes to electoral districts Electoral districts were switched up slightly last year by the Legislative Assembly based on recommendations by the NWT Electoral Boundaries Commission. In a narrow vote MLAs opted to keep the existing 19 seats but to merge the riding of Tu Nedhe with part of Weledeh into the new riding of Tu Nedhe Wiilideh and to create a new Yellowknife North seat to take in part of Yellowknife and the satellite population along the Ingraham Trail. Though the City of Yellowknife had origi- nally taken the GNWT to court over the con- stitutionality of the new electoral boundar- ies arguing that Yellowknife requires more representation the citys lawyers admitted at the Aug. 12 hearing that it would be unre- alistic to change the boundaries before the Nov. 23 election. Depending on the decision of the NWT Supreme Court the boundaries could re- main as is or the GNWT will be given 18 months to come up with another plan for rejigging the territorys electoral districts in a way that addresses issues of over and underrepresentation. For maps and more information on voting districts for the 2015 territorial election visit electionsnwt.ca. NWT residents are getting ready to vote for the 18th Legislative Assembly on Nov. 23. PhotocourtesyofElectionsNWT POLITICS TERRITORIAL