Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 18/98) - Western MLAs will be taking another kick at the electoral boundaries can early in the new year.

The focus this time, however, will not be the report of the electoral boundaries commission, but an alternative proposed last week by Frame Lake MLA Charles Dent.

Dent suggested that five MLAs be added, three new seats for Yellowknife and one more each for the next two biggest ridings, Inuvik and Hay River.

"When we were discussing the commissioner's report, a number of people said they couldn't support just adding seats in Yellowknife," said Dent Wednesday.

"If that's the concern, we can address that by adding seats outside of Yellowknife as well."

One of the MLAs who voted to reject the electoral boundaries commission report recommending Yellowknife get two more seats, said he's taking a wait-and-see attitude to the new suggestion.

"Looking at the boundaries report and being at the hearing they had here, it's split here in the community on whether there should be more MLAs in the assembly," said Inuvik MLA Floyd Roland.

Roland said he will be holding an open house today and a constituency meeting in the first week of January during which he hopes to hear constituents' reactions to the latest solution.

MLA Mike Miltenberger, chairman of the Western caucus, said a date has yet to be set for a caucus meeting to deal with the issue.

"We're looking at sometime in the latter part of January, but we have to co-ordinate it with some other meetings going on at the same time," said Miltenberger Thursday.

The Thebacha MLA said such a discussion is about a month overdue.

"I made the case when this first came up in western caucus, that we should have done this before it came out in the house," said Miltenberger.

"The decision was, no, we're going to take into the house. In that setting things became polarized very quickly."

If the majority of the caucus can reach agreement on the new recommendation, it would not be until mid-March, when the assembly is to resume sitting, that legislation could be debated.

Dent said the political process would ideally operate parallel to the court challenge of the assembly's decision to reject the report.

If that challenge is successful, it will end with the government having to reconsider current electoral boundaries.

"I do think there is a solution that will be palatable to the majority of members, and that's really what we have to look for," said Dent.