Liberals unveil platform
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Oct 30/00) - Ethel Blondin-Andrew's election campaign platform comes up shy of making promises but includes just about everything the North has ever wanted of the federal government.
Among the things Blondin-Andrew says she will help make happen are:
Less clear than Blondin-Andrew's goals were whether a Liberal government would be prepared to pay for them.
"You want an answer to the question of whether we can write a cheque for $200 million?" responded the candidate to questions from reporters. "No, we can't do that. There are processes that have to be followed."
Over the last year, the Liberal government has disappointed the North on several fronts.
Among the concerns are the cutback of funding for the clean-up of the Colomac and Royal Oak mines, questions over money for implementation of a protected areas strategy, and lack of commitment by Ottawa on a the territorial government's non-renewable resource development strategy it submitted, submitted in the spring in response to a federal request.
Additional health care funding, distributed on a per capita basis, was also a disappointment and Premier Stephen Kakfwi said the money the territorial government received would not be enough to keep up with the increased demands on the Northern health care system.
Blondin-Andrew said the achievement of the goals laid out in her platform was not up to "one person on the hustings," that it would also require the commitment of Northern organizations such as the territorial government, aboriginal governments and non-governmental organizations.
Costly campaign
Cost is also an issue for the campaign. Campaign chair Lynda Sorensen said the Liberals are doing what they can to keep costs down, but added NWT campaigns cost a lot.
"I'm anticipating we will spend our limit, which is around $57,000," said Sorensen. Additional personal expenses, for things such as airline travel, will bring the full cost up to the $100,000 mark, Sorensen said.
The incumbent MP was acclaimed as the Liberal candidates in a campaign kickoff last Wednesday in Yellowknife.
Blondin-Andrew plans to visit each of the 32 NWT communities before the Nov. 27 federal election.
