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HAY RIVER
Beatrice Lepine, the final candidate to declare her intention to run in Hay River North, is not prepared to say who might win the district where there is no incumbent.

Three candidates are seeking to replace long-time MLA and speaker of the legislative assembly Paul Delorey, who decided not to run again.

Lepine said anything could happen in the election.

"You could say it's wide open," she said. "I wouldn't predict it myself."

Lepine said all three candidates, who also include Robert Bouchard and Roy Courtoreille, are well-known in the community and were born and raised in Hay River.

However, she believes she is the best candidate to replace Delorey.

"I looked at the slate of candidates," she noted. "Both of them were campaigning long before in the community, so I decided that really they didn't resonate with me. I felt that I could do a better job and so that's why I'm running."

Lepine said she has thought about running for MLA most of her adult life.

"It's not something I've come by lately," she said. "I was focused on my career and stuff like that, but I'm going to retire in a year anyway so I'm certainly free to pursue politics now."

The 59-year-old has taken the required unpaid leave from her job as co-ordinator of traditional knowledge with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to run for MLA. If she is elected, she won't be returning to that work.

Lepine has some political experience on the municipal level. She served a term as a Hay River town councillor in the early 1990s and part of a term several years ago before resigning.

"The environment in that town council and in the town administration was very toxic," she recalled. "There was no assistance provided to me whatsoever in terms of wanting to achieve some of the objectives I had."

In addition, her health wasn't good at that time.

"I decided I couldn't keep banging my head against the wall," she said.

Lepine is also known in Hay River for, among other things, her 10 years of service as a former justice of the peace, and as a member of the Catholic Women's League and the lay ministry at Assumption Roman Catholic Church.

She lists a number of priorities if she is elected MLA, including flood mitigation on Vale Island.

"I'd like to seek funding to be able to assist the town to do some real work," she said. "I mean they did make some efforts, but for the long term we need to do something like build a berm or look at ways to mitigate flood damage."

Lepine also mentions the fishing industry as being close to her heart, adding she would like to see the government invest some dollars into building a new plant and also examine value-added production.

In addition, she supports the biomass strategy of the GNWT and would like to see it fully implemented because it could mean jobs in possible pellet production in the Hay River area.

"I think one of the things is Hay River North hasn't had a voice at the legislative assembly for about two terms because our member has been the speaker," Lepine noted. "So I feel there were some issues not addressed within the town and at the government level."

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