Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 16/99) - Some city councillors have their eyes set higher than municipal politics. With a territorial election coming in December, there may be more than the recently resigned Peggy Near's council seat left vacant.

So far, Dave Ramsay said he'll be running for MLA. Robert Slaven may run as well.

Organizing an MLA campaign represents a three-month commitment, which begs the question: Can a city councillor manage an MLA campaign, the duties of city council, and a full-time job at the same time?

Slaven said he's discussing running for MLA with his family and won't know if he's going to throw his hat in until nominations are to be handed in, Oct. 22-Nov. 1.

"I have an advantage in that I work for the GNWT. The rule is I would have to take a leave of absence from my job if I decided to run for MLA," Slaven said.

"That would free up time for me and make it feasible to remain on as councillor."

He said on average, he spends about 15 hours a week dealing with council business.

"I think it's possible to do your job as a councillor and run an MLA campaign without taking improper advantage," Slaven said.

Mayor Dave Lovell disagrees.

"I think they should take a leave of absence for the majority of the MLA campaign or resign," Lovell said.

"I don't think they should be running for MLA on the back of the city."

Ramsay is running for one of the three newly-created MLA positions. He said he plans to resign his seat on council around the end of October when nominations are due.

"I don't think you can do both. The moment I file my nomination papers for MLA is the moment I'll resign my seat on council," Ramsay said.

"If anybody could do it I could probably do it, but my constituents probably wouldn't like me doing both."

Both Lovell and councillor Kevin O'Reilly restated their commitment to finishing their terms in office.

"I don't have any higher political aspirations and I'm quite happy serving at the municipal level," O'Reilly said.

O'Reilly hopes those who stay on as councillor and run for MLA remember their first commitment.

"I think it would be difficult to serve on council and run a full-time political campaign at the same time," he said.

"It's up to the individual, but I hope they would keep the public interest at heart while making that decision."

Councillor Cheryl Best said she doesn't plan to run for MLA, but disagrees with those who say a councillor should resign if they run in the territorial election.

"Personally, I think the people who were elected to represent the city would also represent the territory well. If one of our councillors won an MLA seat, that's something which would also benefit Yellowknife," Best said.

"Also, it would be difficult to bring a new council member up-to-speed on everything. If a councillor who runs for MLA doesn't win, it means we retain a person with experience and knowledge of what we've been dealing with on council."

City councillors Blake Lyons and Ben McDonald were unavailable for comment. Bob Brooks said he is committed to running for the mayor's position in the next election so he's not considering running for MLA. Peggy Near will not be running for political office.

If more than one council seat is left vacant because of the territorial elections, those who come in second and third in the Oct. 20 byelection will be considered to fill the spots. The byelection was called to fill Near's seat.