Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 24, 2007

FORT PROVIDENCE - With no opposing candidates, Michael McLeod was acclaimed in the Deh Cho riding on Sept. 7.

The acclamation was a stark contrast from when the 630 voters out of a possible 794 gave McLeod a narrow margin of 13 votes over Michael Nadli in the 2003 election. This will be McLeod's third session in the Legislative Assembly.

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

In Enterprise, one of the four communities in the riding, Scotty Edgerton said the residents are happy with McLeod continuing his position as MLA.

"We're real pleased with Michael McLeod," said Edgerton, Enterprise's senior administrative officer.

"He's been really good for our community," said Edgerton.

In Fort Providence, the largest community in the riding, Mayor Tina Gargan said "our MLA has been doing an excellent job."

Housing along with the cost of living and employment are at the top of the list of issues that McLeod plans to address this term.

During the last session he worked with the territorial and federal government to get 10 new units for the Hay River Reserve.

Next year in Fort Providence a three-year project will see the completion of 24 housing units.

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

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

Also on McLeod's list of campaign goals is to improve the gun registry program 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 coordinate flights from the diamond mines so workers from Fort Providence can be flown straight to the community.

Approximately 45 community members are flown to Yellowknife for their time off. Both BHP and Diavik have shown some interest in coordinating their release days 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 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.

McLeod said he's proud of the progress that's already been made through federal funding and the community capacity building fund.

McLeod said he's worked hard to put money directly in the hands of the communities. Hopefully, this will help communities grow stronger, he said.