N.W.T. MLAs race through 2nd day of emergency session as vote on minister's future looms
On Wednesday, MLAs will decide if Katrina Nokleby stays in cabinet
The second day of an emergency sitting of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly convened to decide the future of Katrina Nokleby, former minister of infrastructure and of industry, tourism and investment, lasted barely five minutes Tuesday.
Last week, Premier Caroline Cochrane stripped Nokleby of both portfolios in a surprise shuffle that had several MLAs and industry leaders publicly scratching their heads.
The first sitting of the emergency session on Monday included Cochrane tabling a motion to remove Nokleby from cabinet. In the consensus system, all 19 MLAs must vote on whether to remove a minister, even after that person has been stripped of their portfolios.
Cochrane sought unanimous consent from the assembly Monday to hold that vote to remove Nokleby from cabinet without the normal two-day notice. That unanimous consent was not met because of a single "nay" vote from Nokleby herself.
So with the vote on Nokleby on hold until Wednesday, there was little for MLAs to discuss Tuesday.
Paulie Chinna, minister of the N.W.T. Housing Corporation, tabled a report, and Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson followed it with a motion to adjourn the house until Oct. 15. That motion will be voted on this Thursday.
MLAs will reconvene Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. to debate and vote on the motion to remove Nokleby from cabinet.
If the motion does not receive 10 votes, Nokleby will remain in cabinet as a minister without a portfolio.