2015 Northwest Territories general election

The 2015 Northwest Territories general election was held November 23, 2015 and was the 23rd general election in Northwest Territories history. 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.

2015 Northwest Territories general election
November 23, 2015
19 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Turnout43.59%[1]
Popular vote by riding. As Northwest Territories elections are on a non-partisan basis, all candidates run as independents. The Monfwi riding (black) was elected by acclamation due to the riding being uncontested.
Premier before election

Bob McLeod

 Premier after election

Bob McLeod

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 (*).

Turnout by riding
Deh Cho
Name Vote %
     Michael Nadli* 190 40.6
     Ronald Bonnetrouge 172 36.8
     Gregory Nyuli 66 14.1
     Lyle Fabian 40 8.5
Total Valid Ballots 468 100%
Turnout 61%
Frame Lake
Name Vote %
     Kevin O'Reilly 156 28.6
     Jan Fullerton 141 25.8
     David Wasylciw 132 24.2
     Roy Erasmus 117 21.4
Total Valid Ballots 546 100%
Turnout 28%
Great Slave
Name Vote %
     Glen Abernethy* 511 79.1
     Chris Clarke 135 20.9
Total Valid Ballots 646 100%
Turnout 27%
Hay River North
Name Vote %
     R. J. Simpson 375 52.7
     Robert Bouchard* 252 35.4
     Karen Felker 84 11.8
Total Valid Ballots 711 100%
Turnout 52%
Hay River South
Name Vote %
     Wally Schumann 372 47.2
     Jane Groenewegen* 274 34.8
     Brian Willows 142 18.0
Total Valid Ballots 788 100%
Turnout 57%
Inuvik Boot Lake
Name Vote %
     Alfred Moses* 366 88.6
     Desmond Z. Loreen 47 11.4
Total Valid Ballots 413 100%
Turnout 43%
Inuvik Twin Lakes
Name Vote %
     Robert C. McLeod* 262 60.1
     Jimmy Kalinek 174 39.9
Total Valid Ballots 436 100%
Turnout 43%
Kam Lake
Name Vote %
     Kieron Testart 280 58.1
     Dave Ramsay* 202 41.9
Total Valid Ballots 482 100%
Turnout 25%
Mackenzie Delta
Name Vote %
     Frederick Blake, Jr.* 313 48.0
     William Firth 137 21.0
     Norman Snowshoe 116 17.8
     David Krutko 86 13.2
Total Valid Ballots 652 100%
Turnout 66%
Monfwi
Lafferty elected by acclamation
Name Vote %
     Jackson Lafferty* N/A N/A
Total Valid Ballots N/A N/A
Nahendeh
Name Vote %
     Shane Thompson 292 29.4
     Rosemary Gill 202 20.4
     Randy Sibbetson 198 20.0
     Kevin Menicoche* 137 13.8
     Deneze Nakehk'o 128 12.9
     Arnold Hope 23 2.3
     Dennis Nelner 12 1.2
Total Valid Ballots 992 100%
Turnout 60%
Nunakput
Name Vote %
     Herbert Nakimayak 229 30.8
     Jackie Jacobson* 225 30.2
     Ethel-Jean Gruben 174 23.4
     John Stuart Jr. 81 10.9
     Robert Kuptana 35 4.7
Total Valid Ballots 744 100%
Turnout 76%
Range Lake
Name Vote %
     Caroline Cochrane 333 50.4
     Daryl Dolynny* 328 49.6
Total Valid Ballots 661 100%
Turnout 32%
Sahtu
Name Vote %
     Daniel McNeely 271 29.6
     Yvonne Doolittle 242 26.4
     Judy Tutcho 229 25.0
     Paul Andrew 175 19.1
Total Valid Ballots 917 100%
Turnout 58%
Thebacha
Name Vote %
     Louis Sebert 401 42.8
     Michael Miltenberger* 363 38.7
     Don Jaque 173 18.5
Total Valid Ballots 937 100%
Turnout 51%
Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh
Name Vote %
     Tom Beaulieu** 410 71.1
     Richard Edjericon 177 28.9
Total Valid Ballots 587 100%
Turnout 71%

**Beaulieu was previously member for the abolished district of Weledeh

Yellowknife Centre
Name Vote %
     Julie Green 470 54.7
     Robert Hawkins* 389 45.3
Total Valid Ballots 859 100%
Turnout 38%
Yellowknife North
Name Vote %
     Cory Vanthuyne 392 35.8
     Dan Wong 376 34.3
     Ben Nind 189 17.2
     Edwin Castillo 127 11.6
     Sean Erasmus 12 1.1
Total Valid Ballots 1,096 100%
Turnout 45%
Yellowknife South
Name Vote %
     Bob McLeod* 485 70.0
     Nigit'stil Jessica Norbert 179 25.8
     Samuel Roland 29 4.2
Total Valid Ballots 693 100%
Turnout 33%

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]

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References
  1. "Voter Turnout for 2015 Territorial General Election". Elections NWT. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  2. http://www.electionsnwt.ca/news-release-april-1-2015
  3. "Term Extension Debate". Elections NWT. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  4. "N.W.T. MLAs vote to ask for authority to postpone election". CBC News. March 11, 2014.
  5. "Final Report of the NWT Electoral Boundaries Commission" (PDF). Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission.
  6. "MLAs vote to merge Tu Nedhe and Weledeh, despite opposition". Northern Journal, June 2, 2014.
  7. "2015 Territorial General Election Districts". Elections NWT. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  8. Rendell, Mark. "COUNCIL BRIEFS: OCT. 20 – CITY SET FOR LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES". www.edgeyk.com. EdgeYK.
  9. "Official Voting Results" (PDF). Elections NWT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  10. Chris Windeyer, "Voters deliver a blunt demand for change," CBC News, Nov. 24, 2015, URL accessed Nov. 24, 2015.
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