Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With 65 per cent of the vote and 356 in total, voters in Kam Lake were clear in their choice of MLA Monday night. Dave Ramsay will be returning to office for the third time.

Dave Ramsay: Won 65 per cent of the vote in Monday night's Territorial election. He will be returning to work for a third time representing the residents of Kam Lake.

The Taste of Saigon restaurant hosted the celebrations as Ramsay's friends and family eagerly listened to the results coming in.

"I've been supporting Dave since we moved to Kam Lake nearly two years ago," said Susan Sibbeston.

"His effectiveness and how he is there for his constituents is why he should win again."

That passion for helping people is what propelled his campaign along this year and sparked his interest in politics in the first place. Ramsay was first elected to the legislative assembly in 2003 after a failed attempt against Sandy Lee for the Range Lake seat in 1999.

The 41 year old also served two terms on city council, starting in 1997.

"That's what it's all about," Ramsay said.

"I've spent eight years helping people and I look forward to the upcoming four years. It's exciting and I'm humbled that I've been given the honour to represent Kam Lake again."

In the past two campaigns, Ramsay really hasn't had anything to worry about, and although Monday night's win could be described as a landslide, Ramsay still showed a few nervous tics.

"I always get nervous," Ramsay said. "I've been through a few elections campaigns and it always turns your stomach (when the results come in)."

In true political fashion, Ramsay wasted no time setting out his platform of goals and spoke about taking his political career one step further.

"We spent over $500 million in the last three years on capital projects around the territory and we need to find a way to be spending money," Ramsay said.

"The economy is struggling and the government needs to find a way to spend more money. That's going to be a struggle to find the money that we need to be spending."

Ramsay didn't shy away from questions on whether he would like to be a part of cabinet in the 17th legislative assembly, something that has eluded him to this point.

"I've made no qualms about it," Ramsay said.

"I'm interested in being a cabinet minister. It's a lot easier to ask questions than to answer them. I just want an opportunity to show that I can lead and I can provide solutions to the problem facing the Northwest Territories and I look forward to the discussions that are going to happen in the next couple weeks in the selection for premier and cabinet. We'll see what happens."

Ramsay had three challengers in this election: Arctic Farmer owner Darwin Rudkevitch collected 118 votes and 22 per cent of the vote, former NHLer Victor Mercredi was awarded 45 votes for third place and 8 per cent of the vote, and business owner Bryan Sutherland

won 28 votes and 5 per cent of the vote.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.