Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 3, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Former MLA Bobby Villeneuve is taking the legislative assembly's board of management to court.

An application was filed Nov. 23 with the Supreme Court of the NWT seeking judicial review of the board's decisions on two allowances - decisions which cost the former MLA tens of thousands of dollars he claims are rightfully his.

Bobby Villeneuve: "I think that's totally wrong and those guys should pay dearly for it."-

Villeneuve is seeking to overturn the board's demand that he repay a Yellowknife accommodation allowance for part of the time he represented Tu Nedhe from 2003 to 2007.

In addition, he is seeking to overturn the board's withholding a transition allowance paid to MLAs when they leave office.

"I think that's totally wrong and those guys should pay dearly for it," Villeneuve said.

The matter is set to be heard by a justice on Dec. 14 and it is expected to be adjourned to a full hearing at a later date.

In November, the board of management demanded Villeneuve repay more than $80,000 in accommodation allowances and benefits, charging he was not a permanent resident of Fort Resolution and improperly claimed the allowance.

Villeneuve, who lost his bid for re-election in October, vehemently denies he did anything wrong.

The basis of the court application is that the board of management failed to provide him with an opportunity to state his case and defend his position on the capital residence allowance.

The transition allowance, valued at more than $29,000 was held back against the debt owed to the legislative assembly.

Villeneuve said the transition allowance is totally separate from the capital residence allowance.

Without the transition allowance, he said he went from an MLA's salary to nothing.

"It put a lot of strain on my life," he said, adding he has missed some payments on a truck and his credit rating has been affected.

"I've had to scramble to find work," he said, adding he found some casual work but nothing permanent.

Villeneuve said the whole purpose of the transition allowance is to help members get back into the workforce.

Paul Delorey, speaker of the legislative assembly, said the board of management is not surprised by the court challenge.

Delorey said the board feels confident in the decisions that it made.

"We're going to defend our positions vigorously," he said.

Delorey declined to comment further, since the matter is in court.

Aside from wanting the decisions on the allowances overturned, Villeneuve said he will also seek compensation for damage to his name and reputation.

In July, an audit of nine regular MLAs claiming permanent residency over 80 kilometres from Yellowknife concluded Villeneuve had not spent enough days in his constituency to qualify for accommodation assistance in the capital, even though he had sworn that his permanent residence was in Fort Resolution.

Residency in Fort Resolution entitled him to about $28,000 annually in Yellowknife accommodation allowances.

Villeneuve called the audit shoddy, and said it and the board of management looked at residency from a non-aboriginal point of view.

"I think that's totally wrong," he said. "It's sad they think that way. It's definitely a Southern perspective."

The former MLA explained he was often in his constituency on the land for hunting, fishing and spiritual gatherings.

"That to me is being in my constituency, in my residence," he said.

If not on the land, he said he was often in Hay River, like many people living in Fort Resolution.

The former MLA said he was paying monthly rent in Fort Resolution.