Weledeh no more
Fall territorial election to see Dettah and Ndilo split from Yellowknife riding
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Thursday, August 27, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The communities of Dettah and Ndilo will no longer be represented by a Yellowknife MLA after the fall election when they join a massive riding that stretches as far as the Saskatchewan border.
Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley will be the will be the last MLA to represent that riding. For the fall territorial election it is being divided up and the remainder that includes the city will be called Yellowknife North. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo
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Currently, they're part of the Weledeh riding, which will cease to exist in its current form and with that name - which translates to Coney River - after the Nov. 23 election.
Weledeh, as it exists now, includes Niven, downtown northeast of 47 Street, Old Town, Ndilo, Dettah and a large swath of land east of the city surrounding Highway 4.
Bob Bromley has represented the riding since 2007 and calls it a diverse cross section of incomes and ethnicity.
"We've got the newest part of Yellowknife and the most well-off in terms of incomes and others who are at the opposite end of the scale, plus the Ingraham Trail," Bromley said.
He lamented the breakup of the riding.
"That is sad to me," he said Tuesday. "I felt (Ndilo and Dettah) were an important part and people in the riding felt they were an important part of an integrated Yellowknife. It's a bit of a feeling of loss."
Bromley has announced he won't be running in the election.
In place of Weledeh will be two ridings for the fall election.
Tu Nedhe Wiilideh is the name of the riding that will encompass Ndilo, Dettah, Fort Resolution, Lutsel K'e and the area around the east arm of Great Slave Lake south to the border with Saskatchewan, east to the border with Nunavut and north around the diamond mines.
Yellowknife North encompasses much of the area formerly part of Weledeh, including Niven, part of downtown, Old Town and part of Latham Island. It also includes the rural area around around Highway 4.
"I'm disappointed in that - a Band-Aid approach to a real issue," Bromley said.
Joe Handley held the Weledeh seat from 1999 to 2007.
The changes were recommended by the boundaries commission in 2013 to help address under-representation in several ridings, and were passed by the legislative assembly last year. Elections NWT last week issued a news release telling residents they can check out the new boundaries on its website.
The new boundaries are subject to a court challenge by the city which claimed the districts violate the charter by under-representing city voters.
A written decision on that court case could be issued at any time but won't impact the election.
Currently there are seven ridings that cover the city.
Other ridings in the city are also changing, but not to the same degree.
The former-Con Mine sight and nearby trailer homes along Con Place road - was part of Frame Lake riding. It's now included with Great Slave, for example.
