When two government ministers face no-confidence votes on the same Wednesday, you know it's a time of high political drama in the legislative assembly.
Though both Health Minister Glen Abernethy and Infrastructure Minister Wally Schumann survived the non-confidence motions to remove them from cabinet, their blunders have cast doubt on Premier Bob McLeod’s government.
Last month, a Marine Transportation Services (MTS) barge was cancelled due to thickening sea ice. The three Arctic communities of Paulatuk and Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay have been left without their annual resupply shipment.
Millions of dollars worth of everything from household goods to heavy equipment must now be flown to the communities at great cost, or warehoused until the barges can sail again.
The barges were supposed to arrive in mid-August and the remote communities rely on the annual resupply runs for their very survival.
The territory-run shipping company failed to deliver and blame for the debacle has fallen on Schumann. Allegations from Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart that the government prioritized private contracts to Alaska and the Sabina gold mine in Nunavut over resupply needs for Arctic communities were particularly shocking – and troubling.
Abernethy was also in the hot seat after a 41-page auditor general’s report found the territory’s child and family services failed to make improvements after a 2014 report identified serious problems in the system.
In 2014, social workers failed to maintain a minimum level of contact with foster children in 59 per cent of cases. By 2018, that had risen to 88 per cent.
The government’s ongoing failure to care for foster children cannot be overstated. The government has had four years to address systemic problems in child and family services but the situation is now even worse.
So what do MLAs do about it? They hold a non-confidence vote where there was a lot of hand-wringing and finger pointing but to no one's surprise, the status quo ruled and the two ministers kept their jobs. It was a lot of theatre but of not much consequence.
If voters had any thoughts on the matter they were not invited to cast judgment and never will be, unless one cares to submit the next territorial election as proof that a guillotine of accountability awaits. We hold an admittedly cynical view. Incumbents in the Northwest Territories, cabinet minister or otherwise, typically win re-election 90 per cent of the time.
That's because consensus government benefits them more than anybody else by emphasizing name recognition over policies and planks.
That point was perfectly illustrated at an all-candidates forum in 2015 where Premier McLeod defended consensus government by noting how it favours incumbents, who after winning, can “keep building on the work of previous governments until you get it done.”
Well, what if voters don't like what they're building?
The 2015 election was an anomaly. Half the incumbents running lost but that seemed to have more to do with voters' weariness with individual candidates, many of whom were seeking fourth or fifth terms, than what the previous government did.
In an attempt to make the territorial government more accountable to voters, Testart tried to amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act to allow territorial leaders to register with political parties for next year’s territorial election. Right now, territorial elections are stacked against party politics because parties can't even get their names on the ballot.
Testart’s proposal was soundly defeated Monday and a number of MLAs were upset with his approach.
He was scolded for attempting to radically change the character of the territory’s political landscape without consulting with the public.
A fair point but when does that consultation take place? From our perspective there has been zero appetite since forever among MLAs once elected to change anything about our system of government.
Can the NWT – with its small population – support political parties? Would it make the government more representative? Wednesday's spectacle showed there is plenty of room for improvement.
Here in the North, the territorial government is important. It is such a big part of the economy that it also an important part of the private sector.
This is all well and good so long as the government remains accountable.
But if the government continues to make headlines for its ongoing mediocrity, the voters need to be able to intervene to make sure power stays where it belongs: with the people.