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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Former territorial health minister Sandy Lee, who failed to win the Western Arctic for the Conservatives in the May federal election, has a landed a political job with the Harper government.

Sandy Lee

Lee was appointed in July as director of regional affairs in the Northwest Territories for Leona Aglukkaq, health minister and minister responsible for CanNor, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

"It is a staff position in the minister's office, not the public service," said Steve Outhouse, an assistant to Aglukkaq. He was unable to provide details about Lee's salary range.

Outhouse said Lee "will be the minister's point person in the region. She will represent the minister at meetings; be the minister's eyes and ears on the ground and act as liaison between the minister and stakeholders and the territorial government."

For the moment, however, the public has no way of contacting Lee, except through Aglukkaq's office in Ottawa. Outhouse would not provide contact details for Lee, but said he would relay a request for an interview.

"We're still setting up an office for the minister in Yellowknife; when it's ready we will advertise all contact information," Outhouse said.

Lee did not respond to messages left with her publicly-listed telephone.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington said Wednesday that he "looked forward to her providing a good input and liaison for the minister.

"There are many challenging issues here and many will need to have a careful input from a variety of constituents, but I trust she will respect the relationship established through the electoral process between constituents and the elected member of parliament," Bevington said.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem welcomed Lee's appointment as a way to get the city's message directly to responsible ministers.

"The big challenge is getting the understanding; if you have someone here you can sit them down and explain, otherwise it's someone passing through town and they might have 10 or 15 minutes.

"Sandy has lived here for awhile and she knows the files; Dennis is very good in bringing things up, but sometimes having an opposition member representing you means the message falls on deaf ears. You need to have other routes," Van Tighem said.

First elected as MLA for Range Lake in 1999, Lee was a prominent member of the Liberal party executive in the Western Arctic before the Conservative national office chose her as the party's candidate in the May election.

The choice upset some Conservative supporters in Yellowknife and she was soundly defeated in city polls. After the election, Lee mused about resuming her career as a lawyer.

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