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Residency investigated

MLA's home issue referred to conflict commissioner

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jun 01/01) - The ongoing evolution of the legislative assembly's board of management took another twist yesterday, when it became a complainant in a conflict of interest case.

The board asked the conflict of interest commissioner to investigate Tu Nedhe MLA Steven Nitah's claim to $17,000 in living expenses out-of-town MLAs are entitled to.

Where do you live?

Factors the board of management considers in determining an MLA's primary place of residence:

  • community where children enrolled in school
  • community where spouse employed
  • usual residence of spouse and/or dependent children
  • location of personal possessions (clothing, furniture, pets)
  • amount of time spent in community
  • location of owned residence or residence rented for one or more years
  • location of active business ties
  • personal mailing address
  • personal telephone listing
  • membership in church, recreational and social clubs
  • address for registration of vehicle, boat, snowmobile, driver's licence, health care card, tax return


    • Nitah last week responded to 17 questions board chair Tony Whitford put to him in an April 10 letter. Whitford last week asked the same questions of Mackenzie-Delta MLA David Krutko. Krutko has yet to respond.

    All board members agreed Thursday Nitah's answers failed to clarify whether the rookie MLA lives primarily in Yellowknife or, as he claims, Lutsel K'e.

    "The board is not in the investigation business," said board member Brendan Bell, MLA for Yellowknife South. "In the interests of transparency and objectivity, I think this would be the best avenue for the board to take."

    With that Bell read a motion to hand the matter over to conflict commissioner Carol Roberts.

    "The role that we play seems to be increasing as different occurrences come up," said Inuvik MLA Floyd Roland.

    Along with Joe Handley and Michael Miltenberger, Roland participated in the meeting by teleconference.

    Information Nitah provided included a tax return, family home address, postal address, and details of the care and school arrangements for his children, said law clerk Katherine Peterson.

    The board will not release Whitford's letter or Nitah's response.

    Members are currently required only to provide a sworn affidavit testifying to their place of residence. That may change soon.

    Whitford has asked both Nitah and Krutko for suggestions on what evidence, such as utility bills and income tax forms, MLAs should submit in future to back up their residency claims.

    The issue of where an MLA lives is not as simple as some might think, said Peterson.

    "The central question is where does this person ordinarily reside?" Peterson said.

    Determining what precisely "ordinarily" means is where the issue gets complicated. Board policy sets out 11 points to consider in determining where a member ordinarily lives. Board members and MLAs, and now the conflict of interest commissioner, makes a ruling based on the consideration of all the points.