Another bid for Liberal candidate
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins challenges Kieron Testart for Liberal nomination for the federal Northwest Territories riding
Randi Beers
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 17, 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins has put his hat in the Liberal Party ring.
He announced Nov. 14 he is seeking the Liberal nomination for the Northwest Territories' federal riding.
"With 14 years of elected service and experience in public office, I truly feel I am well positioned to bring the voices of all Northerners to Ottawa with my immense energy, excitement and passion," he stated in a news release.
Hawkins is the second person to announce a run for the Liberal Party nomination. In early October, former Liberal Party president Kieron Testart also announced his intention to run.
Federal party nomination processes are quite complex. The Liberal Party has a set of rules by which individual ridings elect their own candidate but there is a clause that allows for the party leader, Justin Trudeau, to override a local nomination process.
Once a Liberal Party committee has approved potential nominees, delegates will vote for who will represent them. In the case where a contest between two nominees reaches a tie, the winner is decided by coin toss.
No party has decided on a candidate for MP, but at least one other nominee has come out of the woodwork. Inuvik Mayor Floyd Roland told News/North last month he is running for the Conservative Party nomination.
New Democratic Party MP Dennis Bevington has said he won't make a decision about whether or not to seek re-election until the new year.
Northwest Territories residents could be heading to the polls anytime between 36 days from today and the fixed election date of October 19, 2015.
