Northwest Territories general election, 2007

Northwest Territories general election, 2007
Result map of the 2007 general election

The 2007 Northwest Territories general election took place on October 1, 2007. It was the 21st in the history of the territory. Nineteen members were elected to the Legislative Assembly from single member districts conducted under first-past-the-post voting system.

The election was called on September 3, 2007, when the writ of returns was dropped by Chief Electoral Officer Saundra Arberry. This election was the first in Northwest Territories history to be conducted on a fixed election date calendar.[1]

The territory operates on a consensus government system with no political parties; the premier is subsequently chosen by and from the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Contents

Election campaign

The final candidates list was released on September 7, 2007. Three incumbents were returned by acclamation.[2] Four other high profile incumbents are not running for re-election including Premier Joe Handley representing Weledeh, cabinet minister and dean of the legislature Charles Dent representing Frame Lake, cabinet minister Brenden Bell and Private member Bill Braden brother of former Premier George Braden representing Great Slave.

Premier retires

Joe Handley the 10th Premier of the Northwest Territories, announced his retirement.

Rehab

Former candidate Peter Liske withdrew his candidacy shortly before the nomination deadline closed in Weledeh.[2] Liske's campaign came under scrutiny after he promised to enter rehab for alcohol abuse if he was elected. His campaign promise acquired international attention after the story was picked up by The Tonight Show as part of the Headlines segment.[3] The original news story Dettah chief candidates debate issues featured in the Headlines segment was published by the Northern News Service on August 6, 2007.

Criminal records

Four candidates that ran in 2007 have a criminal record. Henry Zoe, former MLA for North Slave, has twice been convicted for spousal assault and resisting arrest. He resigned his seat over the latter charge in 2004. Hay River South candidate Greg McMeekin was convicted of assault, resisting arrest and making death threats, and has a warrant out for his arrest for violating his probation. Nahendeh candidate Arnold Hope was convicted for drug possession in 2006 and unsafe storage of a firearm. Marc Bogan was convicted of the misdemeanor charge of mischief for releasing live crickets all over the Yellowknife Courthouse in 2005.[4]

Conflict of interest

In the electoral district of Tu Nedhe, incumbent Bobby J. Villeneuve finished a distant fourth in a field of six candidates. He was disciplined by the Conflict of Interest commissioner in June 2007 after swearing a legal oath that he lived in Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories. Swearing the oath allowed him to gain access to a $25,000 a year living allowance for living accommodations in Yellowknife. The estimated cost to tax payers was $65,000. He was forced to reimburse $10,000 of it.[5]

Disqualification

A complaint has been filed to the Chief Returning Officer Saundra Arberry over the disqualification of Tu Nedhe candidate Noeline Villebrun. The former candidate sent her nomination paperwork and endorsement signatures by facsimile from British Columbia, a half-hour before the nomination deadline on September 7, 2007. The returning officer from Elections NWT disqualified the paperwork on the grounds that the paperwork was not in the original ink. Villebrun's official agent filed a complaint on the basis that, submitting paper work by fax is not forbidden under the Elections Act. Arberry upheld the decision of the Returning Officer and advised the Villebrun campaign to seek legal counsel.[6] Villebrun was attempting her second run at office, she last ran as a candidate in the 1999 Northwest Territories general election in the same electoral district.

NWT Party

In past elections, political parties have popped up claiming to run slates of candidates. Yellowknife Centre candidate Bryan Sutherland has claimed to lead the NWT Party, and was the only candidate in this election representing the party in its slate. Sutherland is claiming that whether or not he is elected he will push for the party to be formally registered.[7] The Northwest Territories has no laws recognizing or validating any political parties operating on the territorial level. Sutherland and his party are running under platform, that political parties will act a unified voice for pushing issues and ensure better accountability and qualifications for candidates that run in the field, and the democratic election of a Premier.[7] Sutherland was defeated finishing a distant fourth in his district.

New Premier selected

On October 17, 2007 Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Floyd Roland was elected as the eleventh Premier of the territory by the Legislative Assembly. He ran for Premier against Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger.[8] After being elected Premier, Roland promised to push the Government of Canada to give the Northwest Territories provincial powers enjoyed by other jurisdictions.[9]

Election summary

Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
Incumbent New # %
Elected candidates 10 6 6,992 54.14%
Acclaimed candidates 3 0
Defeated candidates 2 34 5,922 45.86%
Total 55 12,914 100%
Voter Turnout % Rejected Ballots

District and candidate results

District[10] Winner 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place
Deh Cho Michael McLeod        
Frame Lake Wendy Bisaro
389
Chris Johnston
162
Jeff Groenewegen
137
   
Great Slave Glen Abernethy
336
Doug Ritchie
206
Christopher Hunt
103
Beaton Mackenzie
101
Mark Bogan
21
Hay River North Paul Delorey
514
Vince McKay
329
     
Hay River South Jane Groenewegen
423
Marc Miltenberger
384
Greg McMeekin
10
   
Inuvik Boot Lake Floyd Roland        
Inuvik Twin Lakes Robert C. McLeod
306
Denise Kurszewski
261
     
Kam Lake Dave Ramsay
489
Brad Enge
118
     
Mackenzie Delta David Krutko
303
Mary Joanne Clark
164
Donald Robert
132
   
Monfwi Jackson Lafferty
579
Henry Zoe
495
     
Nahendeh Kevin A. Menicoche
549
Arnold Hope
203
Bob Hanna
71
Keyna Norwegian
70
 
Nunakput Jackie Jacobson
266
Vince J. Teddy
150
Eddie Dillon
142
Calvin P. Pokiak
74
 
Range Lake Sandy Lee
564
Ashley Geraghty
210
     
Sahtu Norman Yakeleya        
Thebacha Michael Miltenberger
531
Peter Martselos
444
Jeannie Marie-Jewell
197
   
Tu Nedhe Tom Beaulieu
252
Steve Ellis
175
Raymond Simon
26
Bobby J. Villeneuve
12
Andrew Butler
6
James W. McPherson
6
Weledeh Bob Bromley
522
Andy Wong
409
Jonas Sangris
244
Carol Morin
34
 
Yellowknife Centre Robert Hawkins
430
Sue Glowach
258
Ben McDonald
204
Bryan Sutherland
29
 
Yellowknife South Bob McLeod
539
Amy Hacala
278
Garett Cochrane
57
   

Notes:

  • Candidates in bold denotes incumbents.
  • With the exception of Michael McLeod, Floyd Roland and Norman Yakeleya, who were all acclaimed, the results are currently unofficial.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Election race underway in Northwest Territories". CBC News. September 3, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/09/03/campaign-start.html. Retrieved September 5, 2007. 
  2. ^ a b "3 MLAs acclaimed in N.W.T. election". Yahoo News. September 7, 2007. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/07092007/3/canada-3-mlas-acclaimed-n-w-t-election.html. Retrieved September 7, 2007. [dead link]
  3. ^ "Northern headline becomes Leno punch line". Northern News Service Ltd.. September 7, 2007. http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/0609jaylenno.html. Retrieved September 7, 2007. [dead link]
  4. ^ "At least 4 N.W.T. election candidates have criminal pasts". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 12, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nwtvotes2007/story/2007/09/12/criminal-election.html. Retrieved September 13, 2007. 
  5. ^ "N.W.T. MLA disciplined over Fort Resolution housing claim". CBC News. June 7, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/06/07/nwt-housing.html. Retrieved September 13, 2007. 
  6. ^ "N.W.T. election candidate protests disqualification". CBC News. September 18, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nwtvotes2007/story/2007/09/18/nwtelex-villebrun.html. Retrieved September 18, 2007. 
  7. ^ a b "Fifteen signatures, $200 all it takes to run as candidate in NWT election". Canadian Press. September 21, 2007. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jn1QXpJ8RKmkuwT1GRRSAfjUBupg. Retrieved September 21, 2007. 
  8. ^ Cara Loverock (October 19, 2007). "Floyd Roland". Northern News Services. http://www.nnsl.com/members/newspapers/stories/oct19_07r.html. Retrieved October 27, 2007. 
  9. ^ "Floyd Roland chosen N.W.T. premier". CNEWS. October 17, 2007. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/10/17/4583754-cp.html. Retrieved October 27, 2007. [dead link]
  10. ^ "Elections Northwest Territories official candidates list". Elections Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927134430/http://www.electionsnwt.ca/english/candidates.html. Retrieved September 6, 2007. 
  11. ^ Unofficial Results from Elections NWT

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