Yellowknife (Apr 28/03) - Bob Turner withdrew as a candidate for the presidency of the North Slave Metis Alliance on Friday.

Turner, who said he made his decision after meeting 70 Alliance members the night before, said he'll throw his support behind North Douglas, a candidate from Rae-Edzo.

"Thursday night I guess the meeting helped me make a decision. It's just following on what I'd like to see happen," Turner said.

Alliance members will go to the polls on Saturday.

North is a founder of the 300-member Metis Alliance and a former board member. Turner said electing North is an opportunity for the Alliance to bring the Metis of Rae-Edzo "fully back into the Alliance."

North was unavailable for comment.

Turner's withdrawal leaves three candidates for the presidency -- North, suspended president Clem Paul and Frank Lafferty.

Paul named the Alliance in a wrongful dismissal suit that is currently before the courts after he was suspended last December.

A recent financial review by a Yellowknife accounting firm found that Paul frequently used the Alliance truck, credit card and cell phone for personal reasons while he was president.

Paul said these expenses were approved by the board, and called the audit a "campaign of hate" designed to make him look bad going into the election.

Paul welcomed the news that Turner had pulled out of the race.

"His little scheme didn't work. He doesn't see any hope in winning and he doesn't want to see me win," Paul said. "He'll support anybody but me. I'm not afraid of that."

Paul was acclaimed as president in two previous Alliance elections. He called next week's election the "first big vote" for the organization and said he would like to see everybody vote.

If voter turnout is high, he said, the "healing process" can begin with a new board mandate in the embattled organization.

The NSMA was formed in 1996 to provide business and employment opportunities for Metis from the North Slave region.

It receives funding from Human Resources Development Canada and is involved in various industries in the NWT.