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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
New Democrat leadership hopeful Paul Dewar was in Yellowknife Friday talking about his vision for the North and giving reasons why he should become leader of the NDP.

NDP leadership hopeful Paul Dewar chats with Snowking, a.k.a. Anthony Foliot at the Snow Castle Friday afternoon. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

Dewar, MP for Ottawa Centre, visited Behchoko Friday morning, where he took in a handgames tournament, which he described as a "magical" experience, before heading to Yellowknife where he received a tour of the legislative assembly. He attended the Snow Castle for a media event.

Dewar touched on a number of issues, including devolution, mining and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

"(It's important) to have a respectful nation to nation relationship," he said. "I haven't seen that from this (federal) government. Often they come and say 'here's the way things are going to happen' and devolution's a good example," said Dewar.

"Devolution is a great idea. I think we can say all people want to see it, but if you don't have proper consultation you can take a good idea and make it an irritant, and then you can make it something that's even worse for people in that it lacks the consensus."

In terms of managing the North's natural resources, he said he supports development, but it has to be done in the right way.

"I have a concern," he said, "that the federal government and the Conservatives have abandoned a lot of the environmental assessment oversight, and that's just wrong."

When it comes to the issue of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project, he said as long as the consensus is there, he would move forward if he were prime minister.

"When you see that there's the proper revenue sharing, when you're seeing that there's balance between environmental concerns and that people have agreed to it, then that's fine and you go ahead with it, but there's still a couple things I think need to be ironed out," said Dewar.

He said addressing the cost of living and investing in infrastructure are keys to attracting more people to Yellowknife and the North.

"It's definitely about the cost of living and basic needs to make sure there's adequate support, and that means changes to the tax system," Dewar said.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington restated his endorsement of Dewar for the NDP leadership.

"I really think Paul's the one that can provide the kind of leadership that I was looking for, the kind of leadership that follows in Jack (Layton's) legacy of consensus building and that sense of social justice," Bevington said.

"I think Paul's done a wonderful job as the foreign affairs critic for our party and I think he has the maturity to be a good leader in Canada."

Dewar described the endorsement by Bevington as a boon to his race for the NDP leadership.

"It doesn't mean just a boost for me here in the North, but also people respect Dennis a lot in the south and it gives me another indication that people are coming my way to support me, and people in the south see Dennis as a leader in our party," Dewar said. "So I'm delighted."

Dewar is the second leadership hopeful to come North aiming to replace the late Jack Layton as leader of the Official Opposition. B.C. MP Nathan Cullen visited last month.

The NDP leadership race, which features seven candidates, wraps up this weekend.

Snowking, a.k.a. Anthony Foliot, had the chance to speak with Dewar during his visit to the Snow Castle.

Foliot said he was impressed with Dewar's ability to converse in French.

"I made a point of speaking French to him while he was here and he was able to converse as good as I can," said Foliot.

"I want to make sure that whoever's representing Canada has both sides of the coin covered."

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