Jack Danylchuk
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 30/05) - The election pot that has been boiling for 17 months spilled over Monday night, as opposition parties defeated Paul Martin's minority Liberal government, sending voters to the polls Jan. 23.

Richard Edjericon Ethel Blondin-Andrew Dennis Bevington

NDP candidate Dennis Bevington, who came within 53 votes of unseating Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew in 2004, watched the drama unfold on television in Fort Smith.

"It's a good time for an election," said Bevington, who planned to be in Yellowknife, today, to stake out the vote-rich battleground.

Blondin-Andrew arrives in the capital today to put the final touches to a campaign that will key on Yellowknife and other tax-based communities where Bevington made a strong showing in 2004.

"Yellowknife will have its own campaign," said Blondin-Andrew, who has been on election alert since last spring when the Martin government survived a non-confidence motion by a single vote.

"I'm very excited, keen to get going. We've been gearing up for this since the day of the last election," Blondin-Andrew said heading into her sixth campaign.

Conservative candidate Richard Edjericon watched the House of Commons vote from Hay River where he was meeting with Akaitcho territory leaders.

"I'm happy that we're going into an election."

A former chief of Dettah, Edjericon is determined to improve on the showing of the last Conservative candidate who finished a distant third in 2004.

"People I've been talking to are ready for a change in the North. It's a common thing I've been hearing."

Chris O'Brien, candidate for the Green Party in the last election, said he will not run again, but the party will be on the ballot in the Western Arctic.

"It could be someone brought in from elsewhere, or someone from here, but the party intends to have a candidate in every riding," O'Brien said.

The Conservatives will begin their campaign early next week.

Like Blondin-Andrew and Bevington, Edjericon pointed to the Mackenzie Gas Project, devolution and resource revenue sharing as dominant issues.

"We need to maximize the benefits for Northerners," Edjericon said.

Bevington said Northerners need to take a hard look at the royalty rates the federal government has offered Imperial Oil for the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

"The royalty plan comes from the 1970s when gas prices were very low," Bevington said.

"It's not appropriate any more. I think people have their eyes open on this.

"A Liberal MP who won't say anything isn't doing much for the North. Anyone who can stand up for the North in Ottawa is going to do a better job than that."

Early polls have identified integrity in government as an issue that concerns voters.

Bevington drew a parallel between the sponsorship scandal in Quebec and "the flagrantly political appointment" of Todd Burlingame as chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.

"The Burlingame appointment took decision-making out of the North and put it back in the hands of politicians," Bevington said. "The Liberal party must answer for that."

Blondin-Andrew said Northerners don't react well to negative political campaigns and dismissed criticism of the royalty rates offered to the Mackenzie Gas Project.

"If those people know what that deal is they should tell me," she said.

"I haven't had time to peruse what the critics are saying, I've been working too hard to make things happen."

Blondin-Andrew said "Northerners are different; they don't like the attack dog approach. They appreciate experience and knowledge more than rhetoric."

Bevington said the long campaign is a bonus in the Western Arctic riding where weather and distance make it difficult to reach all the communities.

"This is the second campaign in 18 months and I think the people of the North understand the issues and the candidates. That will make for a very good campaign," he said.