SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The first candidate to sign on with the group behind a movement to elect city councillors who will vote according to the wishes of registered online voters said the e-platform is the wave of the future.

Dane Mason, left, spokesperson for the iServeU group, said he hopes Yellowknifers will elect councilors like Marie-Soleil Lacoursiere - the group's first candidate - who will vote according to the wishes of online voters on hot-button municipal decisions. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

Dane Mason, spokesperson for the IServeU Internet voting platform, said Marie-Soleil Lacoursiere, a 33-year-old contract negotiator with Dominion Diamond, has known about the Internet platform since its inception in the city two years ago.

"It was natural for her to come on board," said Mason.

Lacoursiere said she's new to politics, but has caught the bug.

"It sounds so cliche but making an impact is really what's driving it," she said. "I think I have a really unique perspective on the challenges that the North faces."

IServeU intends to host a website allowing city residents to vote on issues that come up in council. A candidate elected under the IServeU platform will be under contract to vote accordingly.

Lacoursiere said fiscal accountability and a holistic approach to city problem solving is what voters want in their next council.

"Issues, they aren't silos," she said. "They are all interconnected, so looking at that big picture has to mean something for the people."

She said her experience in business makes her a good choice.

"I move a lot of money where I work," she said. "Hundreds of millions every year. And with moving that kind of money comes great responsibility. I understand what that means."

She said she'll campaign in the interest of future spending.

"It's about creating long-term assets that will make Yellowknife beautiful but also accessible for people. Twin Pine Hill is raising a lot of concerns, and overall how the money is spent. Is it spent on things people feel they can really enjoy? That's what I hear, as a Yellowknifer, people around me talking about."

Lacoursiere said she chose to sign on with IServeU because she thinks it's the way of the future.

"It's the next step in how politicians will interact with others," she said. "It's just a tool to connect."

Mason said another IServeU candidate will be announced today.

"All of our candidates will be strong candidates," he said. "They'll have their own platform and their own issues that they want to push for that they are passionate about."

Mason said the platform is designed to make city chambers more accessible to the public.

"Any registered voter would have access to log on and view the decisions before council," he said. "If on any of those issues they feel strongly enough to vote or comment on, they can vote for or against it, and they can also enter into a discussion of why they voted for or against it."

He said if the majority of registered voters don't vote, the system reverts to representative democracy.

"In those types of situations it would more or less advise the councillor on how a certain part of the population feels but the councillor would still have the authority to vote whichever way they wish. It becomes direct democracy if you have enough registered voters weigh in so that the votes for or against outweigh the ones that don't engage, then at that point it directs the councillor how to vote," he said.

Lacoursiere said she's been blown away by the positive feedback from voters.

"We've been going door-to-door and people get it really quick," she said. "People get excited about it."

Mason said they've encountered a few local skeptics who don't think the system is a good idea. He said usually their objections are based on misconceptions, but a few think councillors should vote on their own accord.

"Some people ... don't trust the views of the populace overall," he said.

"But for us that's a theme throughout the development of democracy. Back in the 1700s, you had to be a Protestant to vote (in Canada) because it was believed the Catholics wouldn't vote in the best interests of the country."

Lacoursiere said one of the criticisms she has heard is that only voters with Internet access will be able to partake.

"There's people that say 'what about people who don't have computers?'," she said. "But it's only about eight per cent of Yellowknife's population."

Mason said the city is one of the county's most connected, with around 92 per cent of residents plugged in.

But in order to accommodate those without, they'll set up voting stations in public.

"I think Yellowknife has some of the highest Internet access in the country, around 92 per cent," he said. "It's a lot bigger than the number that turns out to vote. But we do intend to have touch screen voting machines."

He said they'll start out with one, and hope to have one installed at city hall by the end of the next term.

The municipal election is set for Oct. 19.

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