Candidates hoping to be the next MLAs for Yellowknife, Dettah and Ndılǫ will be asked to attend a two-night forum being hosted in November by the Dene Nahjo collective.
Dene Nahjo ordinarily runs the likes of wellness events, markets, exhibitions and other initiatives that promote Dene innovation and the arts.
Each territorial election season, the group holds a forum designed to focus candidates’ minds on concerns and questions that are front of mind for Indigenous residents.
This year’s forum will be held on November 9 and 10, from 6:30pm till 9pm nightly, at the city’s Tree of Peace Friendship Centre.
The 2019 edition had been held over three days. This year, the aim is to invite candidates for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, Great Slave, Yellowknife North and Yellowknife Centre on November 9, then candidates for Frame Lake, Range Lake, Yellowknife South and Kam Lake on November 10.
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Each night will be broadcast online if you’re not able to attend in person, the group stated in a press release.
Dene Nahjo’s event is the first 2023 NWT election forum to be publicized, but is highly unlikely to be the last.
In 2019, counting each night as a separate event, there were no fewer than 16 opportunities to hear candidates for various Yellowknife districts being questioned by members of the public.
Given the ability of residents to vote online or via other means well in advance of November 14’s polling day, some forums this year may take place after a sizeable chunk of the electorate has already voted.
