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McLeod acclaimed in the Deh Cho

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Deh Gah Got'ie Koe/Fort Providence - There won't be a territorial election race in the Deh Cho.

On Sept. 7 incumbent Michael McLeod was acclaimed. A total of three of the 19 electoral districts had acclamations, the others being Floyd Roland in Inuvik Boot Lake and Norman Yakeleya in the Sahtu.

"I felt that it was truly an honour that had been bestowed on me," said McLeod about his acclamation.

He was in Hay River on Friday picking up supplies for his campaign when he first received the news that no one else had filed as a candidate.

"It was a nervous couple of hours before we got it confirmed," he said.

This election is a stark contrast from his last when he won by a narrow margin of 13 votes over Michael Nadli. This will be McLeod's third session at the legislative assembly.

"I hope by being acclaimed I've demonstrated that my leadership skills are suited for today's issues," he said.

Despite already reclaiming the Deh Cho seat, McLeod said he still plans to visit the communities in his riding over the next few weeks, listening to concerns and explaining his goals for the next four years.

McLeod said his platform for this election includes some new issues as well as some issues he's been pursuing since he entered territorial politics eight years ago.

At the top of the list are housing, the cost of living and employment.

During the last session, McLeod said he worked with the territorial and federal government to get 10 new housing units for the Hay River Reserve in 2005. Next year in Fort Providence a three-year project will have completed 24 homes. The housing shortage still hasn't been solved, however, said McLeod.

He also counts the Deh Cho Bridge project among his accomplishments.

"It looks like we've got it on the right track," he said.

The bridge will create employment opportunities, and McLeod said he'll continue to push it forward.

Also on his list of campaign goals is to improve the gun registration system so it's more user friendly. The registration is causing a lot of problems, especially for elders, he said.

A new project this term is to co-ordinate flights from the diamond mines so workers from Fort Providence can be flown straight to their home community.

There are approximately 45 community members at the mines who are flown to Yellowknife to begin their time off. Both BHP and Diavik have shown some interest in co-ordinating their days off and organizing a plane to bring the workers back to Fort Providence. The service would save people at least two days of travel to and from Yellowknife, said McLeod.

McLeod would also like to see the Dehcho Land Use Plan finalized and the territorial government work with the Dehcho First Nations to help them move forward with their issues.

In his role as the minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, McLeod also plans to provide communities with tools they need to have more autonomy.

He said he's proud of the progress that's already been made thorough the new deal and the community capacity building fund. He said he's worked hard to put money directly in the hand of the communities.

Hopefully this will help communities grow stronger, he said.

One of the concerns that McLeod heard from community members during the run-up to the campaign was that he needs to be more available to constituents. He said he'll focus on making more time available for the communities in his riding including Fort Providence, Kakisa, Enterprise and the Hay River Reserve.

"I commit to continue to work with strength and honesty, integrity, dedication and perseverance," said McLeod.