Bevington opens campaign office
Main parties setting up shop in Yellowknife
Northern News Services
Monday, September 14, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When NWT NDP candidate Dennis Bevington opened his campaign office in downtown Yellowknife on Sept. 8, he hoped to attract a crowd.
He also knew that if he laid out sandwich and vegetable trays that some of the downtown street community would also drop by. Dozens of people turned out as Bevington opened his campaign office in the Centre Square Mall – a location where Yellowknife's homeless population tend to congregate outside. Bevington said he knows virtually all the people who came to his office opening, including the homeless, and believes they are supporters of him and his party.
"I've had an office in downtown Yellowknife for nine years and over those nine years I've seen that the (homeless) issue has increased. What we (the NDP) would like to see is a "home first" program installed in a bigger way across this country," Bevington said. "(NDP leader) Thomas Mulcair is talking about that. It's been successful in (southern) cities and we see it as an important thing up here in the North as well. Many of the people who are homeless here are people who have come to Yellowknife with the expectation of something better happening for them and it just hasn't happened for them. Many have social and health issues as well that create that problem and we need to work on that and re-vitalize the downtown area in Yellowknife as well. That's extremely important."
Bevington is the third of three major party candidates to open a campaign office in downtown Yellowknife. However, he said he is not the slightest bit concerned that the Liberals and Conservatives had offices opened in the capital city before he did.
"We still have six weeks left in the election campaign. This is my sixth election and there was only one in 2005-06 that was 56 days, but that was over Christmas in the winter," Bevington said. "I've already been campaigning. I've done nine communities so far. We've got the office open here. It's after Labour Day and people are back from holidays. This is working out really well for us and we're comfortable with what is going on."
News/North asked Bevington which of his two main opponents he is most concerned about - the Conservatives' Floyd Roland or Michael McLeod of the Liberals.
"That's a question I never go to. But when it comes to what's happening in the polls you can see the Conservatives dropping off dramatically. They are really going down and I'd say that's a factor that is very interesting," Bevington said.
"Nobody predicted that before the election and I think it's an indication of how the Canadian people really want a change."
