2015 Northwest Territories general election explained

Election Name:2015 Northwest Territories general election
Country:Northwest Territories
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2011 Northwest Territories general election
Previous Year:2011
Previous Mps:17th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
Election Date:November 23, 2015
Elected Mps:18th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
Next Election:2019 Northwest Territories general election
Next Year:2019
Seats For Election:19 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Turnout:43.59%[1]
Map Size:400px
Premier
Before Election:Bob McLeod
Posttitle:Premier after election
After Election:Bob McLeod

The 2015 Northwest Territories general election was held November 23, 2015. Under the territory's fixed election date legislation, the election was supposed to be held on October 5, 2015, however, since the federal election date of October 19, 2015, overlapped with that date, the N.W.T. government moved the date of the territorial election.[2] The election selected 19 members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Term extension debate

In March 2014 the current Legislative Assembly voted to extend its term from four years to five. The act will need to be approved by the federal government.[3] The reason given for postponing the election was to avoid voter fatigue, with municipal elections and the next federal election scheduled for October 2015. The decision by the assembly has prompted a petition calling for the Legislature to be dissolved early.[4]

Boundary changes

A new election map was implemented this election, the first since the territory was split in 1999. The report of the commission recommended three proposals calling for 18, 19 or 21 MLA's.[5] A 19-member proposal was adopted by the assembly in May 2014, under which the only major change was the dissolution of the former districts of Weledeh and Tu Nedhe; under the new boundaries, the urban Yellowknife portion of Weledeh was reconstituted as the district of Yellowknife North, while the rural communities in the riding were merged with Tu Nedhe to create the new district of Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh.[6] Apart from that change, all of the other 17 existing districts were retained with only minor boundary adjustments.[7]

The Yellowknife City Council objected to the changes since the city was allocated only seven of 19 districts, despite containing around half the NWT population. The council asked the NWT Minister of Justice Dave Ramsay to refer the issue to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories for a constitutional opinion but this was rejected.[8]

Results

Official results by district are shown below.[9] Incumbents are indicated by an asterisk (*).

Deh Cho
Name Vote%Michael Nadli19040.6Ronald Bonnetrouge17236.8
Gregory Nyuli6614.1
Lyle Fabian408.5
Total Valid Ballots468100%
Turnout61%
Frame Lake
Name Vote%Kevin O'Reilly15628.6Jan Fullerton14125.8David Wasylciw13224.2Roy Erasmus11721.4
Total Valid Ballots546100%
Turnout28%
Great Slave
Name Vote%Glen Abernethy51179.1Chris Clarke13520.9
Total Valid Ballots646100%
Turnout27%
Hay River North
Name Vote%R. J. Simpson37552.7Robert Bouchard25235.4
Karen Felker8411.8
Total Valid Ballots711100%
Turnout52%
Hay River South
Name Vote%Wally Schumann37247.2
Jane Groenewegen27434.8
Brian Willows14218.0
Total Valid Ballots788100%
Turnout57%
Inuvik Boot Lake
Name Vote%Alfred Moses36688.6
Desmond Z. Loreen4711.4
Total Valid Ballots413100%
Turnout43%
Inuvik Twin Lakes
Name Vote%Robert C. McLeod26260.1
Jimmy Kalinek17439.9
Total Valid Ballots436100%
Turnout43%
Kam Lake
Name Vote%Kieron Testart28058.1
Dave Ramsay20241.9
Total Valid Ballots482100%
Turnout25%
Mackenzie Delta
Name Vote%Frederick Blake, Jr.31348.0William Firth13721.0
Norman Snowshoe11617.8
David Krutko8613.2
Total Valid Ballots652100%
Turnout66%
Monfwi
Lafferty elected by acclamation
Name Vote%Jackson LaffertyN/AN/A
Total Valid BallotsN/AN/A
Nahendeh
Name Vote%Shane Thompson29229.4
Rosemary Gill20220.4
Randy Sibbetson19820.0
Kevin Menicoche13713.8
Deneze Nakehk'o12812.9
Arnold Hope232.3
Dennis Nelner121.2
Total Valid Ballots992100%
Turnout60%
Nunakput
Name Vote%Herbert Nakimayak22930.8
Jackie Jacobson22530.2
Ethel-Jean Gruben17423.4
John Stuart Jr.8110.9
Robert Kuptana354.7
Total Valid Ballots744100%
Turnout76%
Range Lake
Name Vote%Caroline Cochrane33350.4
Daryl Dolynny32849.6
Total Valid Ballots661100%
Turnout32%
Sahtu
Name Vote%Daniel McNeely27129.6
Yvonne Doolittle24226.4
Judy Tutcho22925.0
Paul Andrew17519.1
Total Valid Ballots917100%
Turnout58%
Thebacha
Name Vote%Louis Sebert40142.8
Michael Miltenberger36338.7
Don Jaque17318.5
Total Valid Ballots937100%
Turnout51%
Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh
Name Vote%Tom Beaulieu41071.1
Richard Edjericon17728.9
Total Valid Ballots587100%
Turnout71%
**Beaulieu was previously member for the abolished district of Weledeh
Yellowknife Centre
Name Vote%Julie Green47054.7
Robert Hawkins38945.3
Total Valid Ballots859100%
Turnout38%
Yellowknife North
Name Vote%Cory Vanthuyne39235.8
Dan Wong37634.3
Ben Nind18917.2
Edwin Castillo12711.6
Sean Erasmus121.1
Total Valid Ballots1,096100%
Turnout45%
Yellowknife South
Name Vote%Bob McLeod48570.0
Nigit'stil Jessica Norbert17925.8
Samuel Roland294.2
Total Valid Ballots693100%
Turnout33%

Analysis

Chris Windeyer, writing for CBC News, wrote that the defeat of eight incumbents in a 19-seat legislature could be seen as reflecting a strong desire for change, particularly pointing to the defeat of Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger, who unsuccessfully tried to win a sixth term.[10] Windeyer also noted there was no increase in female MLAs in this election, with only two winning, and wrote that the re-election of Michael Nadli, who broke his wife's wrist during his last term, "does not say great things about the place of women in N.W.T. politics."[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Voter Turnout for 2015 Territorial General Election. Elections NWT. 28 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Territorial Election Date Set for November 23, 2015.
  3. Web site: Term Extension Debate. Elections NWT. March 10, 2014. March 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140313113721/http://www.electionsnwt.ca/term-extension-debate/#more-3586. March 13, 2014. dead. mdy-all.
  4. News: CBC News. March 11, 2014. N.W.T. MLAs vote to ask for authority to postpone election.
  5. Web site: Final Report of the NWT Electoral Boundaries Commission. Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission. 2014-03-13. 2014-03-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20140313105546/http://nwtboundaries.ca/sites/default/files/final_report_electoral_boundaries_commission_nwt_8_may_2013_eng.pdf. dead.
  6. https://norj.ca/2014/06/mlas-vote-to-merge-tu-nedhe-and-weledeh-despite-opposition/ "MLAs vote to merge Tu Nedhe and Weledeh, despite opposition"
  7. Web site: 2015 Territorial General Election Districts. Elections NWT. 21 October 2015.
  8. Web site: Rendell. Mark. COUNCIL BRIEFS: OCT. 20 – CITY SET FOR LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES. www.edgeyk.com. EdgeYK.
  9. Web site: Official Voting Results. Elections NWT. 21 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126230002/http://www.electionsnwt.ca/sites/default/files/2015-12-21_official_voting_results_of_the_2015_general_election_english4.pdf. 26 January 2016. dead.
  10. Chris Windeyer, "Voters deliver a blunt demand for change," CBC News, Nov. 24, 2015, URL accessed Nov. 24, 2015.

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