Yellowknife (Mar 27/06) - Is Tu Nedhe MLA Bobby Villeneuve a fictitious person?

An odd listing in the new NorthwesTel phone book seems to indicate he is a figment of the imagination. Villeneuve himself begs to differ.

Under ‘F’ in the listings for Lutsel K’e, it reads, “Fictitious customer for NorthwesTel. Villeneuve, Bobby MLA Tu Nedhe.”

“What is a fictitious customer? I’m kind of curious,” Villeneuve said Thursday when told of the listing.

As for whether his constituents in Lutsel K’e might require some reassurance that he exists, the MLA joked, “Maybe I should go there and have a constituency meeting real quick.”

Villeneuve also seems to think he should not have been singled out.

“Fictitious customer? Maybe it should be the whole government listings,” he said, laughing.

Anne Kennedy, the director of public affairs with NorthwesTel, said the unusual listing is the result of a printer’s technique.

In the printing process, such listings are added for a number of reasons, such as checking out what a new font looks like, she explained, noting quite a few are used. A name is randomly selected from elsewhere in the phone book to add to the fictitious listing.

“Theoretically, they all come out before the printing,” she noted.

Kennedy said NorthwesTel will contact Villeneuve to apologize for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.

She also assures Villeneuve’s constituents that he really does exist, despite the listing. “It was not an editorial comment by any means.”

Kennedy noted Villeneuve’s name and number are included in their proper order in the Lutsel K’e listings.