Commission recommends 22-MLA model for NWT legislature

An electoral boundaries commission recommends that the NWT legislature add three new electoral districts and associated MLAs.

The final report from the five-person commission, which was tasked with reviewing the territory’s electoral boundaries to ensure all northerners have meaningful representation, was tabled in the Legislative Assembly last week.

Commissioners concluded that a 22-electoral district model would best address relative voter parity – ensuring electoral districts have roughly equal numbers of voters – while protecting representation for smaller communities.

“In our view, it provides the best option for moving forward, as it most fully addresses the needs of all the residents of our diverse communities while striving for fair voter representation,” the report states.

Under the proposed model, two new districts would be added to Yellowknife and one to the Tłı̨chǫ region, which the commission said are currently underrepresented in the legislature.

The commission suggested the legislature contact the Tłı̨chǫ Government about potential new names for districts in the region. It said the name for Yellowknife’s Great Slave district should be changed “given its demeaning and objectionable nature.”

The commission’s recommended model includes changes to electoral boundaries in Inuvik and Hay River to better balance the population between districts in the towns.

The report further recommends adding the Dettah access road and part of Highway 3 east of Boundary Creek to the Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh district.

Commissioners opted against including the Ingraham Trail in that district, despite Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh currently having the second lowest population of any electoral district in the NWT, due to “overwhelming opposition” from residents of the trail and Yellowknives Dene First Nation leaders. (The trail is currently part of Yellowkife North.)

The commission also decided against potential changes to the Nahendeh and Dehcho districts following opposition from residents in those communities.

What, if any changes, will ultimately be made to the territory’s electoral boundaries will be up to MLAs, some of whom wrote to the commission to share their thoughts during its consultation process.

‘Assembling a 45,000-piece puzzle’

In making their final recommendations, commissioners said reflecting the “diverse fabric” of the NWT and ensuring effective representation for all voters was a difficult task akin to “assembling a 45,000-piece puzzle.”

They said factors considered included cultural identity, languages, land claims and dynamics between regional centres and small communities.

The commission released an interim report in November suggesting four options for changes to the NWT’s electoral boundaries, with models ranging from 19 to 22 districts.

Seventy-seven written submissions were received from across the territory about those proposals, while 70 people attended public hearings. Commissioners said they also considered updated population estimates, which became available following publication of their interim report.

While some residents said the territory should reduce the number of MLAs, the commission’s terms of reference required it to consider no fewer than 19 electoral districts.

The commission ultimately concluded that trying to address voter parity by consolidating electoral districts under a 19-district model would diminish effective representation for residents in small communities, an issue it said would be amplified with even fewer districts.

The commission added that maintaining representation of smaller communities “should not come at the expense of continued and chronic underrepresentation of Yellowknife.” The report strongly advises against maintaining the status quo.

“If communities of interest are to be respected, it is not just a matter of moving lines around,” the commission’s report states. (A community of interest is a phrase meaning people who share common social, cultural or economic interests that distinguish them from others.)

“In our view, a 19-district model simply cannot adequately achieve effective representation for all residents of the Northwest Territories.”

Commissioners similarly said possible 20 and 21-district models had little support from residents.

The commission also considered some residents’ objections to the cost of adding more MLAs to the legislature.

At an estimated annual cost of $250,000 for MLAs based in Yellowknife and $315,000 for those living outside the Yellowknife area – including salary, pensions, benefits and allowances – the commission said a 22-MLA model would result in a little less than a $900,000 annual spending increase, or about 0.038 percent of the territory’s budget.

“It is our view that democracy is worth this investment,” the commission concluded.

Commissioners determined a 22-district model would be the best option even though it would result in overrepresentation of the Dehcho, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh and Tłı̨chǫ districts and underrepresentation of the Sahtu.

The commission said even examining a model with up to 53 districts, it was unable to find an ideal option. It determined the 22-district model was the best balance of voter parity and communities of interest while ensuring effective representation.

More districts and a slate model

Beyond the models it proposed, the commission considered requests by some residents that Aklavik, which is currently part of the Mackenzie Delta district, have its own, separate electoral district and that Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour form a separate district from Tuktoyaktuk.

The commission said while it heard “impassioned arguments” for creating those new districts, favouring some communities at the expense of others would be inconsistent with the goal of effective representation for all northerners.

“Adding a district for a small community or group of small communities may give those communities a sense they are better represented, but it comes at the expense of everyone else in the territory having their representation diluted,” the commission wrote.

Commissioners said to create a standalone district for Aklavik without negatively impacting other districts would require a 37-district model, while separating the three Beaufort Delta communities from Tuktoyaktuk would require 33 districts.

While some residents suggested doing away with electoral boundaries in multi-district communities such as Yellowknife, and instead allowing residents to vote for a slate of MLAs to represent them, the commission ultimately did not make a recommendation as the Legislative Assembly did not explicitly ask it to do so.

The commission said multi-member districts have existed in other Canadian jurisdictions in the past, such as British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, but have not existed at the federal, provincial or territorial level since 1996.

It said switching to a slate model in the NWT would require changes to legislation and significant public education.