The best and worst attendance records of N.W.T. MLAs last session

Attendance records of N.W.T.'s regular MLAs show some have earned gold stars over the last four years, while others' records weren't as stellar.

At the end of every legislative assembly in the Northwest Territories, the Speaker of the House releases MLAs' attendance records.

The legislative assembly sits about three months of the year but the bulk of regular members' work happens behind the scenes, in committee meetings where they develop policy, debate how programs and departments should be run and get briefings from cabinet ministers.

Each regular (non-cabinet) MLA is expected to be part of the Priorities and Planning Committee and two other standing committees. Other committees include Social Programs, Government Operations, Economic Development and Infrastructure, Rules and Procedures, and the Board of Management. Some committees meet far more often than the others and each has a different workload. Priorities and Planning met 263 times over the last four years; Rules and Procedures had 15 meetings.

The majority of members attended at least 90 per cent of their committee meetings.

MLAs can only vote on committees they're required to attend but they can attend the other committees. Bob Bromley, for example, attended 130 extra meetings, whereas Michael Nadli attended six additional meetings.

Here's a breakdown of the regular MLAs with the worst and best attendance records in the 17th Assembly:

THE BEST

Wendy Bisaro

​Committees: Priorities and Planning, Government Operations and Social Programs

By far the MLA with the best attendance record was Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro. She didn't miss a single session or committee meeting. She also attended an additional 62 meetings of committees of which she wasn't a member.

Daryl Dolynny

​Committees: Priorities and Planning, Government Operations and Social Programs

In second place is Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny. Dolynny missed 16 meetings out of 552. Four of those absences were for personal reasons, the rest were absences for work reasons. Dolynny attended 93 additional meetings of committees of which he wasn't a member.

Alfred Moses

Committees: Priorities and Planning, Government Operations and Social Programs

In third place for the best attendance record is Alfred Moses. The Inuvik-Boot Lake MLA missed 16 of 552 committee meetings. All but four of those absences were for personal reasons. Moses attended an additional 39 meetings of committees of which he wasn't a member.

THE WORST

Norman Yakeleya ​

​Committees: Priorities and Planning, Government Operations and Social Programs

Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya had the worst attendance record, missing 81 committee meetings out of 552. Thirty-four of those meetings were missed for personal reasons and 11 were for illness or bereavement. Yakeleya attended 65 additional meetings of committees of which he wasn't a member.

Michael Nadli

Committees: Policy and Planning, Government Operations and Economic Development

The MLA with the second-worst attendance record is Michael Nadli. The Dehcho MLA missed 55 committee meetings. Two-thirds of those meetings were missed for personal reasons. Nadli attended six additional meetings of committees of which he wasn't a member.

Kevin Menicoche

Committees: Policy and Planning, Economic Development, Rules and Procedures and Social Programs

In third place for the worst attendance record is Kevin Menicoche. The MLA for Nahendeh missed 45 meetings, about half of them for personal reasons. Menicoche attended 26 additional meetings of committees of which he wasn't a member.

THE REST

Frederick Blake Jr: Missed 35 meetings out of 458, went to 18 additional meetings

Robert Bouchard: Missed 36 meetings of 458, went to 68 additional meetings

Bob Bromley: Missed 21 meetings of 434, went to 120 additional meetings

Jane Groenewegen: Missed 41 meetings of 429, went to 41 additional meetings

Robert Hawkins: Missed 30 meetings of 434, went to 45 additional meetings