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Last week, CBC North asked me to go on air and rate Premier Floyd Roland's performance since taking office a year ago.

I was little bogged down with other work and unfortunately couldn't make it into the studio - my apologies to their producers - but I've given it some thought over the last few days so I'll do my best to inject a little analysis onto this page instead.

First the obvious - it's certainly hasn't been an easy year for the ol' boy. It seems not a moment has gone by when Roland opened his mouth that a big, ugly wad of bad news came dropping out of it. Devolution? On the back burner. Job cuts? We need to tighten our belts. Tax hikes? Um, ditto on that one too.

The picture of our bad news bear premier at work has crystallized into something somewhat gloomy - and from some quarters, quite vicious - although I'm not sure just how much of the blame belongs to him just yet.

After all, devolution isn't worth much if the federal government remains insistent on claiming the lion's share of the resource revenue pie. And job cuts, I don't like seeing anyone put out of work either but bear in mind that the GNWT is the principal employer in the territory at what, 4,500-strong? This is about the same as when Nunavut was created just nine years ago - it's no wonder that kind of payroll makes some heads turn.

Roland is not the greatest communicator in the world and therein, I believe, lies the foundation for the bullseye now painted on his back. There's a lot of jargon in the language he uses. Whether it's re-affirming that his government remains committed to "the process" or working on "that file," I'm not always sure what he's talking about.

Politics is partly an art of language, and when it's time to sell a steaming pile of doo-doo, as governments sometimes feel they must, having a way with words is a definite asset.

His predecessor Joe Handley is a good talker, and during his tenure he talked around a lot of things that proved troublesome later. Deh Cho bridge anyone?

Stephen Kakfwi, like Roland, was very wooden at times but also capable of good prose from time to time. The speech he made before the legislative assembly vote that allowed gay adoptions was particularly convincing.

I've heard Roland unleash a few short zingers here and there that made him seem more human and less of a bureaucratic bean-counter. I particularly liked his response to a question on the pitch he made to the prime minister for a $1 billion cost-sharing agreement.

"I was told to put the sails up and get moving and now I'm being told to put the sails down and park it," he told Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy a couple weeks back.

Nonetheless, being coy about a question is hardly the same as being passionate about it.

In reality, I think Roland's biggest problem to date, as it has been for his predecessors, is that he has no mandate from the people of the Northwest Territories. I harped a lot about this during the last territorial election but I don't see how he or anyone else can govern effectively when the last time he was elected to anything by regular voters was in 1999 by 350 people in Inuvik-Boot Lake.

For a jurisdiction that preaches consensus government, I find it ironic that there is never any chance of consensus among voters on who should govern us.

The solution for the last two terms has been bump the finance minister up into the premiership following an election. Does that mean Michael Miltenberger will be the next premier?

If everything follows its predictable course as of late, he will be. Just as Roland lost the vote among MLAs for the premiership in 2004, so did Miltenberger miss out in 2007. No fear, his turn will come in 2011.

Is that the most NWT residents can hope for? That selecting our territorial leaders is no different than ripping out a new sheet from a Far Side cartoon calendar? How are we supposed to be engaged with our leaders and our government when we've left all the terms in the hands of MLAs behind closed doors?

Whether it be done via party politics or direct election of the premier, Roland would claim a lot more legitimacy if his mandate were broader than a handful of MLAs writing his name on secret ballots and choices made by 350 voters nine years ago.

Right now, he's got nothing to lose. NWT voters know it and will direct their anger at him as more bad news unfolds.

As the old saying goes, you get the kind of government you deserve. At least we don't have to bear the shame of saying we voted it for it.

- Mike Bryant is assignment editor for Yellowknifer. Contact him at 766-8236 or by e-mail at minder@nnsl.com