Proposed changes to the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 electoral boundaries were coldly received during the first two public feedback hearings.
The NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 Electoral Boundaries Commission is currently soliciting feedback as part of its review of the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 existing electoral boundaries, with hearings being held this week to allow for public comment.
In its interim report in December, the commission proposed two modified electoral maps: One would roughly preserve the current status quo, with some boundaries shifted in the major population centres of Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik; The other would remove one MLA in each of these communities.
At the time, the commissionSA国际影视传媒檚 secretary, Danielle Mager, said the proposals were not final, but were only meant to stimulate discussion.
The NWT currently has 19 ridings, including seven in Yellowknife, two in Hay River and two in Inuvik.
No members of the public were present during the first hearing on the evening of Feb. 15. However, two NWT residents tuned in to the second hearing on the afternoon of Feb. 16.
Grant Hood, InuvikSA国际影视传媒檚 senior administrative officer, joined the meeting by videoconference to oppose the recommendation to remove one of the communitySA国际影视传媒檚 two ridings.
He cautioned the commission to SA国际影视传媒渘ot get caught up in statisticsSA国际影视传媒� by deciding on electoral boundaries solely based on population numbers.
He pointed to InuvikSA国际影视传媒檚 diverse population, having significant numbers of Gwich始in, Inuvialuit, M茅tis and other residents, as a reason why the community needed more than one representative.
SA国际影视传媒淩educing Inuvik to one electoral district can only reduce the voice of this very diverse community,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
Having two MLAs in the assembly, Hood said, allows for Inuvik to have representatives on both sides of the assembly. Currently, one of the communitySA国际影视传媒檚 two MLAs, Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Diane Archie, serves in cabinet as Minister of Infrastructure and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
For these reasons, Hood said the community endorsed the option that would keep the same number of districts.
Todd Slack, a resident of the Yellowknife North riding, joined over video chat to voice his opposition to the two proposals.
SA国际影视传媒淚 expected more on a personal level,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
He was especially critical of the suggestion to eliminate districts in each of the three major population centres, saying it would create two classes of voter with unequal representation. SA国际影视传媒淚 can appreciate wanting to screw over the capital city; That is a time-honoured tradition in every jurisdiction in this country,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut you canSA国际影视传媒檛 do it like this.SA国际影视传媒�
In his own riding, Slack is one of about 3,700 constituents, more than one and a half times the territorial average. The Electoral Boundaries Commission Act recommends that the population of each riding should deviate from the mean by at most 25 per cent, although in practice, more than half of the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 ridings deviate from this norm.
Slack said it would be more fair to add another MLA in Yellowknife, even though doing so would be unpopular.
The commission will hold another public hearing on Thursday, Feb 17. Interested residents can email info@nwtelectoralboundaries.ca for details on that meeting. The deadline for public comment has also been extended to 5 p.m. on February 28.
