Leaked document shows N.W.T. MLA leading push for party politics

A Northwest Territories MLA is leading a move toward party politics, even though the idea was overwhelmingly rejected in the legislature four months ago.

Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart said he and others who support the shift are aiming to have candidates run under the Liberal Democratic banner in every riding in the Oct. 1 territorial election.

"If the end result of that is a political party, then so be it," said Testart, who added that the Liberal Democratic party is not affiliated with any existing political party.

"But whether it's a coalition, a team, a slate — whatever you want to call it, at the end of the day it's a way to … achieve real change for the N.W.T. and a progressive policy agenda that can move the North forward instead of standing still."

The Northwest Territories uses a system of consensus government in which candidates run as Independents. Those who win a seat in the legislature then elect, in secret ballot votes, the speaker, six cabinet ministers and the premier. It's only after being elected that the MLAs collectively establish an agenda for their term in the Legislative Assembly.

Testart would not identify any of the people who have committed to running under the Liberal Democratic banner in the coming election.

CBC News has obtained a confidential draft document outlining the idea behind the party and setting forth a proposed platform.

"We believe that democracy is only as strong as its government institutions and that consensus model no longer ensures the representation of the interests of northerners," reads part of the draft, which is aimed at recruiting candidates.

The draft platform includes pledges to increase government transparency by ending the many confidential committee meetings held in the legislature, ensuring all votes are public and creating a standardized appointment and hiring process.

I know there are some of my colleagues … who are very suspicious of this proposal and are very hostile to it.- MLA Kieron Testart

It also proposes introducing targets to reduce the number of children in care, engaging with Indigenous governments on a nation-to-nation basis, and working toward ensuring that Indigenous governments are entitled to on-reserve funding programs from the federal government.

Idea 'unpopular' with people in power

Testart believes someone in the legislature took the confidential document from his office and leaked it to the media.

"I know there are some of my colleagues, in particular in the cabinet, who are very suspicious of this proposal and are very hostile to it," he said.

Testart said there were no other copies that could have been leaked other than the ones that were in his office for a period of time.

"You saw MLAs reject the idea of giving northerners an alternative. Now you see leaks, or removal of a document, for an idea that is unpopular with people in positions of power."

The confidential draft lists four contacts: Testart, his constituency assistant and three officials with the Union of Northern Workers.

The Northwest Territories' chief electoral officer says the move to party politics is "a gray area" in the Elections Act. Nicole Latour said, as an example, Section 105 of the act prohibits any candidate from signing a document that commits him or her to take certain actions if elected.

At the end of October 2018, Testart urged his fellow MLAs to support changes to the Elections Act that would have allowed ballots to show a candidate's party affiliation and allow for the registration and regulation of political parties. In the end, no other MLAs supported those changes.