SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A mock parliament made up of 18 elders from across the Northwest Territories cast aside the shackles of consensus government and voted unanimously in favour of imposing a moratorium on fracking at the legislative assembly last Thursday

Former Dehcho Grand Chief and member of the legislative assembly, Samuel Gargan, speaks out against fracking during a sitting the elders parliament, where he served as representative for the Deh Cho. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

"We have over 1,200 years of wisdom," quipped Jean-Pierre Isore, who put forward the motion as the MLA for Frame Lake. "That's a bit more than the government isn't it?"

The motion on fracking was one of three issues that elders set as a priority during three days worth of meetings leading up to the biennial elder's parliament, which is intended to mirror the proceedings of the legislative assembly.

Led by Melody McLeod, who assumed her husband, Bob McLeod's, position as Premier for the week, elders representing members of cabinet and regular MLAs took turns voicing concerns over the long-term environmental impacts of the controversial method for oil extraction.

Throughout the debate, even the most vocal opponents of fracking acknowledged the need for the government to support economic development.

However, those who got up to speak in favour of the motion said that the current government was failing to balance the risks of fracking against its potential benefits.

"The money doesn't come to us. Some of it goes to the government, but most of it goes to industry," said former grand chief and member of the legislative assembly, Samuel Gargan, who on Thursday sat in as the MLA for the Deh Cho.

Cabinet member, Mary Beckett, who was representing her Inuvik Boot Lake riding, added that while she supported a moratorium on fracking, it didn't mean the government shouldn't consider the possibility of drilling in the future.

"The oil will be there forever," she said. "It doesn't go away, it doesn't go bad."

When the elders were asked to stand for a counted vote in favour of the moratorium not a single elder was left sitting.

A motion to set up a sustainability forum to address high cost of living in the NWT was also passed unanimously, while a motion to set up community-based traditional knowledge centres passed with just a few members opposed.

Wendy Bisaro, who normally sits as the MLA for Frame Lake but today was attending to the elders as a page, said the government should take into account the fact that a group of elders representing every constituency in the NWT wanted to see fracking activity suspended indefinitely.

"(Seniors) have life experience, and they have opinions, and generally by the time you get older you're not afraid to share those opinions," she said.

However, Bisaro said the fact that cabinet voted with regular MLAs was not representative of the actual political process.

"There's no real government side to this, so I think they're expressing their actual opinions and their opinion representing their residents," she said.

Indeed, seniors Esther Braden and Yvonne Quick, who were just two of many spectators watching the day's proceedings from the gallery, agreed that the debate on fracking lacked the kind of balanced dialogue that you would normally see in the assembly.

"There wasn't a person there that wanted to take the opposition side and say 'no it's necessary, it's been going on for 50 years, what's your problem?'" said Quick.

"That part of it was missing," added Braden.

Nonetheless, Quick said the government owed it to voters to follow up on the concerns that the elders voiced.

"There is a person here from every constituency," said Quick. "They should be listening."

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