Deh Cho voters react to Michael Nadli's re-election

Although there has been a lot of vocal opposition online to Michael Nadli's re-election, there's been little reaction heard from people who actually live in the Deh Cho riding.

Nadli was re-elected as Deh Cho MLA on Monday, after he was suspended from the previous assembly when he was sentenced to jail for assaulting his spouse.

Earlier this year, Nadli pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm stemming from an incident that left his wife with a broken wrist. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail. He was released after serving eight days, just in time to be eligible to run for re-election.

It was the second time Nadli has been convicted of assault. Seven years before he was elected MLA, Nadli pleaded guilty to an assault on his spouse. Court documents show that incident took place on Feb. 22, 2004.

Some people in the Northwest Territories expressed disappointment over Nadli's decision to run again, and many northerners took to social media to protest his win.

The Deh Cho electoral district includes Nadli's hometown of Fort Providence (pop. 814) as well as Kakisa (pop. 45), the Hay River Reserve (pop. 321), and Enterprise (pop. 122).

CBC spoke with 14 people in three of those communities — Fort Providence, Kakisa, and the Hay River Reserve.

Everyone was candid and had a lot to say about Nadli's election, but only two people were willing to let their names be used. As reasons, they said everything from "it's too close to home" to "he lives just down the road from me."

According to one man, "it's a small community, and nobody wants to talk because people turn against one another if you say anything."

Only two people we spoke with supported Nadli's win — a close friend and a relative.

They talked about Nadli's connection to culture, his fluency in his language, as well as his vote against devolution. He was the only MLA to vote against the territory's devolution final agreement with the federal government, citing a lack of progress with negotiations for a land claim settlement between Ottawa and the Dehcho First Nations.

Everyone else voiced either sadness or disappointment over Nadli's re-election.

During a CBC election night panel, former premier Joe Handley talked about the significant role family often plays in smaller N.W.T. ridings. Almost everyone we spoke with mentioned family as a major source of voter support for Nadli.

One woman said she's filled with anger and confusion, struggling to understand how someone with a criminal record can work as an MLA, but could not work at one of the territory's mines.

A heavy heart

Margaret Leishman, an elder in Kakisa, says her "heart is heavy;" particularly because of the recent death of May Elanik — a mother of seven who was found injured and unconscious on a trail in Aklavik, N.W.T. Police are investigating her death as a homicide.

For Leishman, Nadli's win is a step backward when it comes to ending violence against aboriginal women and girls. She said the situation is further complicated by the fact that so many people in the N.W.T. are still dealing with the history of residential schools and intergenerational trauma.

"A lot of people haven't healed, and haven't begun healing, so it burdens and confuses people when someone gets away with these kind of things."

Georgina Fabian, who lives in the Hay River Reserve, said "I really disagree with the results.

"He's giving young people the double message that it's OK to be a leader and beat up women."

Not our MLA — at least for now 

Many of the women we spoke with felt Nadli either can't or won't represent their interests in the legislative assembly. People had questions around what he would do to support women, and whether he could really be "their" MLA.

But almost no one called for Nadli's political career to come to an end. Most just wanted to see Nadli take time off, do some healing work over the next four years, and run in the next election.

"He should have just left it alone for a while and then if he's strong, if he's well, if he still wants to work for people, he can do that later on," said Fabian.

Voter turnout

On Monday, Nadli beat three other candidates with 41 per cent of the vote. Though the Deh Cho's 60 per cent voter turnout was higher than the 44 per cent average for the territory, it dropped seven per cent from 2011.

At least two of the people we spoke with did not vote in Monday's election.