Yellowknife banker Yanik D’Aigle says he wants to become the NWT’s Conservative candidate in this fall’s federal election.
The NWT’s Conservatives are in the process of accepting nominations before choosing a candidate after a mid-May deadline passes.
D’Aigle announced he is seeking the candidacy on Thursday, pledging to help reduce the cost of living and restore a government that, he says, “will help enable and empower our people.”
The eventual Conservative candidate will go up against Liberal incumbent Michael McLeod.
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The territory’s former New Democrat MP, Dennis Bevington, said the NDP would have news regarding its NWT candidate soon, while the Green Party is selecting between nominees Paul Falvo and William Gagnon on Friday.
A statement distributed to northern newsrooms on D’Aigle’s behalf read: “Yanik is submitting his candidacy as he believes he will make a difference to all northerners by leveraging his knowledge and experience gained over a 25-year career across Canada and the North.
“Yanik believes people across the NWT deserve a federal government that looks to partner with all residents and businesses of the Northwest Territories and all levels of government.
“Yanik believes our current federal government has forgotten the main reason they exist; they are there to serve our citizens and residents of the North and of Canada.”
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So far, D’Aigle is the only individual to make public their desire to become the territory’s Conservative candidate in October.
His statement included the already-announced Conservative policy of allowing the NWT to keep all resource royalties produced in the territory, as opposed to the current system whereby some of the money is directed to the federal government.
D’Aigle also said he was “looking to remove the GST from home heating bills and the recently implemented carbon tax.”
D’Aigle has lived in the NWT for the past seven years, his statement read.
A prominent member of the Yellowknife Rotary Club and the municipal and territorial chambers of commerce, D’Aigle also listed his involvement with a range of charities, including the NWT Disabilities Council, Skills Canada NWT, and United Way NWT.
