Dennis Bevington

Dennis Fraser Bevington (born March 27, 1953) is a politician from the Northwest Territories, and was the member of Parliament for the riding of Northwest Territories from 2006 until 2015. Born in Fort Smith, he served as mayor from 1988 to 1997. During Bevington's term at the head of council, Fort Smith recognized the Chipewyan and Cree languages, making the town officially quadrilingual.

Dennis Fraser Bevington MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Northwest Territories
In office January 23, 2006 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Ethel Blondin-Andrew
Succeeded by	Michael McLeod
Personal details
Born	(1953-03-27) March 27, 1953 Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Joan Bevington
Residence	Fort Smith, Northwest Territories
Profession	Administrator, businessman, manager

A businessman, Bevington has long been active on environmental issues. In the 2000 federal election he ran as the NDP candidate for Western Arctic, but lost by 18% to incumbent Ethel Blondin-Andrew. Bevington ran again in the 2004 election, losing to Blondin-Andrew by only 53 votes, one of the closest races of the election. Bevington succeeded in unseating Blondin-Andrew in the 2006 election, with a margin of 1,158 votes.

Bevington fought for years to have the name of the riding changed from Western Arctic to Northwest Territories.[1] Since 2008, Bevington has tabled three private member's bills titled "An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Western Arctic", all dying on the order paper.[2] The task was more difficult as the riding name had been specified directly in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, rather than in the representation orders governing other riding names. Bevington finally succeeded in having the name change incorporated into a bill that changed several other riding names in 2014.[3][4]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Michael McLeod	9,172	48.34	+29.90	$71,207.71
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	5,783	30.48	−15.36	$37,599.86
	Conservative	Floyd Roland	3,481	18.35	−13.76	–
	Green	John Moore	537	2.83	−0.23	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			18,973	100.00		$214,028.20
Total rejected ballots			104	0.55	–
Turnout			19,077	64.82	–
Eligible voters			29,432
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+22.63
Source: Elections Canada[5][6]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	7,140	45.80	+4.36
	Conservative	Sandy Lee	5,001	32.10	-5.51
	Liberal	Joe Handley	2,872	18.40	+4.82
	Green	Eli Purchase	447	3.10	-2.39
	Animal Alliance	Bonnie Dawson	87	0.60	–
Total valid votes			15,577	100.0
Total rejected ballots			78	0.50	+0.09
Turnout			15,655	55.43	+7.72
Eligible voters			28,244
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+4.94

2008 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	5,669	41.44	-0.99	$39,961
	Conservative	Brendan Bell	5,146	37.62	+17.14	$84,329
	Liberal	Gabrielle Mackenzie-Scott	1,858	13.58	-21.7	$37,884
	Green	Sam Gamble	752	5.49	+3.65	$9,010
	First Peoples National	Noeline Villebrun	252	1.84	–	–
Total valid votes			13,677	100.0
Total rejected ballots			56	0.41
Turnout			13,733	47.71
Eligible voters			28,787
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-9.06

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	6,801	42.67	+3.62	$40,703
	Liberal	Ethel Blondin-Andrew	5,643	35.40	-4.04
	Conservative	Richard Edjericon	3,200	20.08	+2.92
	Green	Alexandre Beaudin	296	1.85	-2.47
Total valid votes			15,940	100.0
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+3.83

2004 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ethel Blondin-Andrew	5,317	39.44	-6.15	$58,782
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	5,264	39.05	+12.34	$39,504
	Conservative	Sean Mandeville	2,314	17.16	-10.52	$16,863
	Green	Chris O'Brien	583	4.32	–	$2,754
Total valid votes			13,478	100.0
Total rejected ballots			69	0.51
Turnout			13,547	47.33
	Liberal hold		Swing		-9.24
Change for the Conservatives is based on the combined totals of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives.

2000 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ethel Blondin-Andrew	5,855	45.59	+3.96	$56,498
	New Democratic	Dennis Bevington	3,430	26.71	+7.42	$27,323
	Alliance	Fred Turner	2,273	17.70	+2.99	$15,406
	Progressive Conservative	Bruce McLaughlin	1,687	9.98	-2.64	$8,374
Total valid votes			12,840	100.0
Total rejected ballots			72	0.56
Turnout			12,912	52.24
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.73
Change for the Canadian Alliance is based on the Reform Party.

References

1. "Western Arctic to Northwest Territories: MP calls for riding name change". CBC News. CBC. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
2. "Private Member's Bill C-332". LEGISinfo. Government of Canada. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
3. Bill C-37, An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (S.C. 2014, c. 19).
4. Parliament of Canada. "Northwest Territories (Northwest Territories) 2014-". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Consulted 2014-08-27.
5. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Northwest Territories, 30 September 2015
6. Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits

External links

• Official website
• Dennis Bevington – Parliament of Canada biography