MLAs vote to merge Tu Nedhe and Weledeh, despite opposition – Northern Journal

Yellowknifers consider legal action over under-representation

Voters in the NWT are already considering legal action against a bill passed by MLAs last week that will see the ridings of Tu Nedhe and Weledeh amalgamated, despite fervent opposition from the two regions’ representatives and residents.

Confident that a challenge to the boundaries “would have a reasonable chance of success,” Yellowknife business leader Bill Aho told The Journal in an email that he is now “looking for ways to begin a public discussion.”

Aho is part of a delegation called “Friends of Democracy” that urged Yellowknife city councillors last fall to lobby the territorial government for an increase in the capital’s share of seats in the legislature to nine from seven.

Based on a February 2013 report by the Electoral Boundaries Commission, MLAs were given the choice of eliminating one riding, keeping the legislature at 19 seats or adding two more MLAs to combat the under-representation experienced right now in Yellowknife.

Read more: http://norj.ca/2014/06/mlas-vote-to-merge-tu-nedhe-and-weledeh-despite-opposition/