SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A different Premier McLeod reigned over MLAs at the legislative assembly last week, as 18 elders from across the NWT gathered in Yellowknife for the biennial Elders' Parliament.

Melody McLeod took over her husband's position as premier for the Elders' Parliament in Yellowknife last week. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

Melody McLeod, wife of Premier Bob McLeod, was the only applicant for the Yellowknife South riding and her name was drawn at random from three candidates seeking to serve as premier for the week.

"I don't know that I would have done it if it hadn't been a name coming out of a hat," she said. "But, when I do things, I like to sort of be in charge so I was happy about it."

Laughing, she recounted breaking the news to her husband earlier this week.

"I told him 'It looks like there are going to be two premiers in the house for the next few days,'" said McLeod.

For his part, Premier Bob McLeod told News/North that, while it "may be difficult" to have two premiers in one household for the week, he knows that Melody has what it takes to do the job without any help from him.

"She follows pretty closely what goes on in the political world. She's on top of the issues and knows what's going on at the Leg. So she doesn't need any pointers from me," he said with a chuckle.

With 13 of the 18 elders participating in Elders' Parliament being female, Bob took the opportunity to plug a Women's Parliament, which he hopes can be held for the first time next year.

"I really think that if we had at least 50 per cent representation in the assembly, or a majority of women, I think it might change the issues that are discussed quite a bit," he said. "Perhaps it would focus on a lot of family issues and so on. I think we would perhaps see a more balanced discussion of issues."

A common theme among the three Yellowknife elder MLAs was the need to integrate elders' wisdom into the political landscape in the territory.

While the NWT political system pays lip service to preserving traditional government practices - most notably through the consensus-style government - what is missing is truly engaging elders in the process, said elder parliamentarians.

Bill Reid, who is serving as MLA for Great Slave this week as a regular member, said he would like to see traditional knowledge centres throughout the territory.

"There is no reason why there can't be a building in each community because there are so many empty buildings, where people can gather and elders can share their traditions, and artifacts can be displayed, and so on," he said.

The centres could also be a tourist draw, as it can be difficult for visitors to find the authentic cultural experiences they seek in the North, he said.

Be'sha Blondin, serving as MLA for Yellowknife Centre, said that the knowledge held by elders definitely is not being taken advantage of as it should, but disagreed with Reid that the current generation of elders is the last one to hold knowledge of traditional Northern life. It is her belief that, while people come and go, knowledge lives on and is available to anyone who seeks it.

For Blondin, the most pressing issue facing the territory is the environment. More specifically, a need to unify all people who call the territory home in order to work together and ensure decisions made now are in the best interest of their great-great-great grandchildren.

"And we need to laugh more together, not take everything so seriously," she said. "We want unity. We want harmony."

For Melody McLeod, the most pressing issue is the need to repair family units throughout the North.

"Elders are paid a lot of lip service, but when it comes down to the crunch, we're not called upon to assist and to bring a different perspective to things I think we could really make a difference in. I'm not sure why that is," she said.

While it is a great experience to sit in meetings with this group of elders, McLeod would like to see the motions that were brought forward Thursday taken more seriously for sitting MLAs.

In a previous Elders' Parliament, a motion was passed to establish and Elders' Senate in the NWT. However, sitting MLAs since have never pursued this motion.

"My vision is that there will be enhanced sensitivity to issues that are brought forward by elders and that they will be taken seriously and not just given lip service," said McLeod. "That's my hope."

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