Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 02/01) - What lifestyle changes does the jump from regular MLA to cabinet minister bring? For the newest member of cabinet, not much.

MLAs congratulate Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger after electing him to cabinet Wednesday. - Richard Gleeson/NNSL photo

"My wife finds it very distressing when she comes to visit me to have no furniture in the living room except for a bed," said Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger.

"So I've committed to sprucing up the place where I live, but I have no intention of moving upscale."

Miltenberger said he was going to add a coffee table and a few chairs regardless of the outcome of Wednesday's meeting of the territorial leadership committee.

Composed of all MLAs, the committee voted three times by secret ballot before Miltenberger received the 10 votes or more needed to win the cabinet seat.

The biggest surprise of the meeting was not who won, but who ran.

Jane Groenewegen was one of the four regular members who ran.

The Hay River MLA prompted the meeting by resigning from cabinet last Wednesday, in the face of harsh criticism from a special committee over her surreptitious recording of telephone conversations with the conflict of interest commissioner.

Curiously, Groenewegen was nominated for the vote by special committee member and North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty.

"I believe I have paid for my part in the unfortunate events that took place," Groenewegen told the committee.

The committee did not agree. Groenewegen was eliminated on the first of the three votes it took to determine a winner. (If a no candidate gets 10 votes or more, the one with the fewest votes gets knocked off the ballot and another vote is held.)

Tu Nedhe MLA Steven Nitah, who spoke of his childhood on the land outside Lutsel K'e and the energy and youth he would bring to cabinet, was the next to drop off the ballot.

Miltenberger, who served as education minister in the last government after division, was elected over Hay River North representative Paul Delorey.

One of the strongest critics of cabinet, the former mayor of Fort Smith attempted to gauge the mood of cabinet in general and the premier in particular in the days leading up to Wednesday's vote.

Miltenberger met with Stephen Kakfwi last Friday to determine if the premier and cabinet harboured any ill-will toward him. He was among the MLAs who supported the premier's leadership in Monday's confidence vote.

Miltenberger was the first MLA to condemn Groenewegen's recording of the conflict of interest commissioner.