For some Hay River voters, things ‘feel really heavy’

Brian Kovatch opened Hay River’s Superior Audio Video electronics store in 1978. “It’s a rollercoaster, just like anywhere else,” he said of the town.

He moved to the community with his family at the age of 12, spent some time studying at Akaitcho Hall in Yellowknife, and played in a band called The Universal Music Machine. He said those were among the best years of his life so far.

In Hay River, a town known for its fishing industry and pond hockey tournaments, issues such as crime, community safety, the cost of living and housing are driving voters to the polls in this month’s federal election.

Kovatch isn’t sure how he’ll vote. He’s concerned about issues like the services available to seniors.

Since turning 40, he said, “I have felt that like the GNWT takes care of the seniors but our federal government has no idea how to do that.”

He said from his perspective, political rhetoric is more often directed toward single parents and children.

“They tend to neglect seniors,” said Kovatch. “I’m still able to move around, but what about the seniors who can’t? Is the infrastructure there to help the ones that can’t move around?”

Hay River was hit by flooding in 2022 and multiple wildfire-related evacuations in 2023, which brought then-prime minister Justin Trudeau to the town on a tour of the damage.

Kovatch feels that trip was a waste of time and money.

“Sure, he was here to lift people’s spirits but at the end of the day, the only thing that lifts people’s spirits is help,” he said, calling for more federal support when communities like Hay River are hit by disasters. His impression of how the federal government did or did not help in the aftermath is helping to form his voting intention.

“I don’t think the feds did for us here what they should have,” said Kovatch.

“So which way am I leaning? Right now I would say maybe I’m leaning a little bit more Conservative than Liberal.”

Jane Groenewegen, a hotel owner in Hay River, was an MLA from 1995 until 2015 and ran for MP as an independent in 2021. She earned around 13 percent of the vote.

Groenewegen perceives Hay River as a town that leans politically to the right, though she adds there are “pretty staunch liberals,” too.

“Hay River has a lot of private enterprise, has a lot of second, third, fourth-generation businesses here that have been established here and have done well,” said Groenewegen.

“It’s just more of a private sector community, and that usually means people are concerned about finances, balancing the books, not living outside of our means – either as a personal budget or our companies, or our country.”

In this election, Groenewegen says she’s voting for Kimberly Fairman, the Conservative candidate.

She said she was far more pleased with Fairman than Lea Mollison, the party’s 2021 pick, who hailed from Thunder Bay, Ontario, didn’t visit the territory prior to the election, and wouldn’t accept interview requests.

Groenewegen believes Fairman “checks all the boxes” of someone who can represent the NWT in Ottawa.

Fairman hosted a meet-and-greet event in Hay River on Tuesday evening. About 25 people heard her pledge that the Conservatives would reduce GST on the purchase of homes worth up to $1.3 million, look into training for tradespeople and apprentices to build homes, and release federally owned land for housing.

Fairman said she and the Conservatives would like to see bail reform and funding for drug recovery programs.

A 25-year-old healthcare worker who attended Tuesday’s event said one benefit of living in a small town is the ease with which residents can get face time with candidates and ask questions.

“The North’s been getting a lot of attention in terms of defence and Arctic sovereignty,” said the healthcare worker, Celine, who gave only her first name.

“With everything going on in terms of the tariffs and inflation and lack of housing, I was very interested to hear about how we can maybe use some of that attention to our advantage, to help with some of those issues.”

Celine said she was satisfied with Fairman’s response, which was to ask questions about what might be needed in the community.

“She definitely seemed to have an awareness of: talk to the people first, know who to network with about these needs, and then efficiently direct that funding as much as possible,” said Celine.

She said that she’s interested in social issues like healthcare, housing and education but didn’t see a lot of progress issues under the Liberal government of the past 10 years.

“Nothing in my immediate life, in my immediate group improved. And in that time I lived in Ontario, I lived in BC and I lived in Alberta – all for education – and nothing improved for anyone my age across those provinces,” said Celine.

She is interested in a change of government and “change of tactic.”

Other Hay River residents attending the event were not so forthcoming about their voting intentions.

One attendee who preferred not to be named said that she read every party’s election platform and has spoken with both Fairman and Rebecca Alty, the Liberal candidate, who has been Yellowknife’s mayor since 2018.

“When you’re looking at who’s going to do the best for the North, it’s not either-or. Both of them can do the job,” said the attendee.

At St Andrew’s Anglican church, Reverend Francis Delaplain said he’s seen Hay River go through a lot in the past 10 years: Covid-19, floods and fires.

The church operates a thrift store that has been broken into several times over the past few months.

With the pending federal election and recent events in the United States, Delaplain said he has noticed parishioners seem more anxious.

“I think people feel like there’s really, really high stakes in this election.” said Delaplain.

“And maybe some of that’s true, and then maybe some of that’s just being born out of the time we’re in. It feels really heavy.”

Election day is April 28. Eligible voters can cast their ballots in advance polls from April 18-21.

Claire McFarlane is travelling the Northwest Territories to hear from residents across the territory ahead of election day, including time with each of the major parties’ candidates as they campaign. She now heads to Inuvik, Norman Wells, Whatì and Fort Simpson.

Travel costs associated with this reporting are funded by the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund.