SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife man says he feels like he's being watched by Big Brother when he swims at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool.

In this case, Big Brother is Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, whose face is plastered on a four-by-eight billboard that hangs at the pool, the Shorty Brown rink at the Multiplex Arena and the Yellowknife Community Arena. Jamie Bastedo, an author and naturalist, said he was caught off guard by the sign.

"I walk out of the locker room and boom, there is this massive poster with a politician's face on it and I'm thinking, 'What on earth is this doing in a public, city facility?'"

"It seemed like such an overt political statement in a public facility was inappropriate. You've got a territorial politician putting his face in a municipal, what I would think is a politically neutral establishment, it seems very odd to me."

The sign sits among business advertisements of the same size. On it is a picture of Hawkins and his 2003 campaign slogan, "Working on what matters to you!"

Hawkins said the sign isn't an attempt at garnering votes, but a way to make himself accessible to the public.

"What I'm doing, I would define it as outreach," he said.

"I'm advertising as an individual and trying to make sure that I'm accessible to people and it's worked very well in the accessibility part."

The sign has been hanging at the pool for over a year and this is the first time someone has complained, said the MLA, who was disappointed to be receiving the complaint.

"It's about outreach and it's about supporting a community facility. It's not political as far as I'm concerned. It's a communication tool. That's all it is."

Brian Kelln, community services facility manager for the city, said the sign is considered to be an advertisement.

"We thought it was an innocent message and he was just letting people know that he's out there. It doesn't say, 'Vote for me.'

"For me it's not any different from his ads in the paper or Sandy Lee's ad in the paper," he said.

Four-by-eight advertisements are hung in public facilities for a fee of $600 a year, said Kelln. So to hang all three signs, Hawkins is paying $1,800.

Out of the 19 MLAs in the legislative assembly, he is in the top three for spending on promotional items at $11,408 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. Ahead of Hawkins are Sandy Lee, $12,398, and Bob McLeod, $13,494.

There are no laws against signage outside of the campaign period, said David Brock, acting chief electoral officer for the NWT.

"The legislation just doesn't say anything at all."

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