So, Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson wants to change things in the legislative assembly so that MLAs no longer select ministers for the territorial government based on equal representation for the regions.
Not cool!
Right now, we have a 2-2-2 system. MLAs are voted in separately, then they vote for a premier from the elected MLAs. Then they vote in two ministers from the northern NWT, two ministers from Yellowknife, and two from the southern NWT.
We have 33 communities, and this convention was put in place to ensure that cabinet has equal input from three major areas that represent the communities.
This process has been in place ever since the NWT was divided in 1999, when Nunavut became a territory through its land claim. At the following election, Yellowknife got an increase in MLAs, from four to seven.
And guess what happened? After Yellowknife started electing seven of the NWT’s 19 MLAs, we’ve had six premiers and five were residents of YK.
Floyd Roland is the only premier since Yellowknife received the three extra MLAs that was not living in YK before he was elected.
Before Yellowknife got the extra MLAs, it was the opposite. Of the seven premiers we had, George Braden was the only premier who was a resident of YK, and he was our first premier.
In summary, before Yellowknife got the extra MLAs, only one of the seven premiers was from Yellowknife. After they received the extra MLAs, five of six premiers were residents of Yellowknife.
It seems that YK already has a decided advantage after almost doubling its representation. But it seems like seven of 19 MLAs plus the premier is not enough of an advantage for some Yellowknife MLAs.
Some point to Steve Norn wanting to run for cabinet when Yellowknife MLA Katrina Nokleby was removed as a minister in 2020 as an example of why it should change. Norn said he was being “stifled by the system” when he was not allowed to put his name forward.
Unfortunately, people often neglect to say that Norn felt he should be allowed to run for minister because he was the MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, which includes Dettah and Ndilo, which have traditionally been part of the Yellowknife ridings.
Keep 2-2-2
You know that old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Well, that is very true here.
In the current 2-2-2 system, Diane Archie from Inuvik and Paulie Chinna from Norman Wells/Fort Good Hope are the northern ministers. RJ Simpson from Hay River and Shane Thompson from Fort Simpson are the southern ministers.
Caroline Wawzonek and Julie Green are the ministers from Yellowknife and Premier Caroline Cochrane is also a Yellowknifer.
That means we have ministers from just about every region of the NWT: Beaufort Delta, Sahtu, South Slave, Deh Cho and Yellowknife. Pretty good mix if you ask me.
It’s working exactly as it was supposed to. If you’re wondering how I know, it’s because I was an MLA when it was put in place. Eschia!
A YK resident has been elected as premier five of six times since Yellowknife almost doubled their MLAs in 1999. It’s important to ensure something similar does not happen with the ministers as well.
Every region has different needs, and certainly every region has different needs from Yellowknife.
People who have never lived in the communities, particularly small, isolated ones, can only imagine what the needs are. It’s even worse for those who have moved to Yellowknife from the south and have not gone to many communities.
It must be hard to picture living with only a nurse and no doctors, not having access to dentists, having only one or two stores to buy things from, having to fly in and out of your community, the joy and freedom of the ice road opening, no restaurants, no plumbers or carpenters to hire if you need something done. And on and on.
Even I have a hard time to understand what it’s like, and I was born, raised and lived most of my life in the NWT. To boot, I’ve been to 27 of the 33 communities, and Jean and I work with several of them.
But, I’m from Yellowknife and I get to go home after a week in the community, so it’s difficult for me to fully comprehend the needs of a small community.
People need to take their personal ambitions out of the equation and think of what’s best for the NWT.
Rylund Johnson seems to be a bright guy. Hopefully, he comes to see that it would not be good for the NWT as a whole to get rid of the 2-2-2 system.