Great Slave MLA Katrina Nokleby says she is under police investigation for being in Yellowknife.
“I’m being investigated so I will not be doing any interviews,” she told NNSL Media on Aug. 26.
RCMP have also confirmed they are investigating the MLA’s return to Yellowknife.
“I can confirm that the RCMP have received a complaint in relation to this and have opened an investigation,” said media relations officer Cpl. Matt Halstead. “The investigation’s findings will dictate if any charges are warranted.”
Nokleby told NNSL on Aug. 25 she was back in Yellowknife, claiming she obtained clearance by agreeing to serve as an advisor to newly-elected Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) Chief Ernest Betsina in Ndilo.
However, YKDFN chief executive officer Gaurav Kaushish released a statement refuting Nokleby’s claims.
Nokleby later came under fire at an Aug. 25 press conference when Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty criticized her for remarks made to NNSL. Among the comments was Nokleby saying she had seen people playing Frisbee and there was not a sense of urgency in the city.
Alty suggested Nokleby was insulting Yellowknife’s first responders and has called for an apology.
Nokleby told NNSL that she stands by her statements and that everything she said was true.
Under the Emergency Management Act, penalties for ignoring an evacuation order can lead to fines up to $5,000 or up to a year in jail.
Emergency Management Organization spokesperson Jennifer Young has said during several press conferences the estimate for how many people remain in Yellowknife is around 1,600. Of those, roughly 1,000 are essential workers and the remaining 600 are people who simply refused to leave.
Halstead has repeatedly said during press conferences that RCMP are not actively pursuing individuals who chose to stay in Yellowknife.
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