Yellowknife (June 30/03) - An ad hoc group of Yellowknife business people will press ahead with a plan to change how the Northwest Territories are governed.

They hope to tap into dissatisfaction with consensus government and elect enough candidates in the November election to bring party politics to the legislature.

"I'm encouraged; I think we'll keep going," said David McPherson, co-host with Yellowknife businessman Bill Aho at an organizing meeting that drew 25 people to the Yellowknife Curling Club last Thursday.

Many more are interested, said Aho, co-chair of the Alliance Party for the Western Arctic in the last federal election.

But the evening was warm and sultry and many Yellowknifers were too busy with preparations for the July long weekend to spare an hour for the well-advertised meeting, he said.

Those who came brought an air of middle-aged prosperity. Some remembered the Northern Party that failed 20 years ago, and worried that a Yellowknife-based party would pit the capital against the rest of the territory, dividing it on urban, rural and racial lines.

McPherson said there will be more meetings this summer in Hay River, Inuvik, Rae, Dettah and Ndilo "to see what interest is there, to broaden the circle, a little at a time."

Lots of work ahead

A half-dozen people volunteered for committees that will develop membership, raise funds, and build a common platform for candidates.

McPherson said the next step is to "choose chairmen for the committees, and build a Web site so people can contact us and broaden the base" beyond a short list of names and e-mail addresses.

The political organization is still without a leader, platform or a name.

McPherson said after the meeting that "virtual party isn't a bad one; we're virtually there."

McPherson said the party might not get much beyond its virtual state.

The organizers hope to draw support from all parts of the political spectrum.

"It could fly apart after one session," he said, but not before it changes the law and opens the legislature doors to political parties.

Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee, the only territorial politician to attend the meeting, thinks the objective might be farther off than McPherson and Aho believe.

Lee is also critical of the consensus system, "but I don't know if party politics is the cure.

People have to be convinced. Even in a federal election, people vote for the individual here, not the party."