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Wednesday, June 4, 1997 The voters have spoken
Ethel Blondin-Andrew will soon learn if she will be rewarded for her loyalty.
On gun control, she was forced to choose between her role as a secretary of state in the Liberal government and her role as Western Arctic MP.
Her re-election is a testament to her shrewd political skills. Even if she isn't promoted to cabinet, Blondin-Andrew has proven she has what it takes to at least survive.
The political system in the Western Arctic, and the nation as a whole, did not fare as well. The Liberals drew weak support nationally with only 38 per cent of the vote nationally, the lowest level ever recorded by a majority government. Blondin-Andrew did little better, winning 42 per cent, down from 62 per cent in 1993.
It seems the Liberal wins are as much the result of weak opposition as the party's strength. What would have happened in Ottawa had a truly national alternative existed rather than the regional forces that split the opposition vote?
And what would have happened in the Western Arctic had Blondin-Andrew faced a credible challenger? Only the New Democrat's Mary Beth Levan mounted a serious campaign, but her party's stance on gun control doomed her from the outset. Former MP Wally Firth might have given the incumbent a run for her money, but he spent his one-man campaign greeting Yellowknife Airport arrivals instead of putting together a capable team of supporters.
Even the voters didn't meet expectations. With a turnout rate of just 63 per cent, the electorate proved relatively uninterested in the whole affair. Voters offered Blondin-Andrew no clear mandate and suggested she cannot take them for granted, should she choose to make a run for a fourth term.
Like her party, which holds a slim majority in the Commons and could be forced to take the country to the polls again before the end of the century, Blondin-Andrew has her work cut out for her.
We wish her luck.
It's been quite some time since we've seen police seize handguns in Yellowknife, but it's still too soon.
Granted, the man who has been linked by police to the guns remains innocent unless convicted of charges in a court of law. But the fact remains that more than a dozen potential death-delivering weapons were found by police in a downtown hotel where the public, certainly, would least like to see weapons of any sort. And with thousands of rounds of ammunition to boot.
The RCMP must be commended for their actions in this case, even if the handgun find was a surprise. Keep up the good work and let us all hope that this isn't the thin edge of a potentially fatal wedge.
We're confused. City administrator Doug Lagore shows up to a meeting of parties with an interest in the city's plans to get rid of the middleman between the NWT Power Corporation the rest of us by buying Northland Utilities.
No one from council shows up, and Lagore refuses to answer questions, saying he's only there as a consumer. And yet, when Northland wants information out of the city, it is forced to deal with none other than Doug Lagore.
Whether or not the purchase makes sense, the ultimate responsibility for the deal rests with city council, which should sort out who is handling what.
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