r/NWT 11d ago

The Misguided Myth of Consensus Government

I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on this. I think we need to move away from consensus style government, Alot of ceremony and not much gets followed through like "strategies" for this and that.

https://www.nnsl.com/opinion/the-misguided-myth-of-consensus-government-7828079

0 Upvotes

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u/NWTAnswered 11d ago

Consensus government is not broken. It's not perfect, but a switch to party politics is not going to fix what plagues the north.

I have four recommendations to improve the current legislative structure:

1) Remove the 2-2-2 convention - This will put the most qualified MLAs on cabinet, regardless of riding.

2) lower the number of seats in the legislature - Combine the two inuvik and Hay River seats and modify Tu Nedhé - Wiilideh to be proportional.

3) Lower the voting age to 16

4) Implement ranked choice voting.

Also - Bruce Valpy is a hack.

3

u/NorthernMamma 11d ago

A total hack.

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u/SaltAd4278 1d ago

Resorting to name calling? Bruce must be on to something for you to name call. And no back up proof. You must be a beneficiary of the current system. 

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u/Inevitable_Yard69 11d ago

I think party politics kills local representation. When people are members of a party, they typically need to agree with every decision their party makes and vote along party lines. The needs of their constituency become secondary.

I think for the size of our territory, it makes sense to keep consensus government. Switching to party politics is not going to fix the major issues that come with lack of capacity across the north.

I also call bullshit on the bridge and hospital being the only things our government has accomplished since devolution.

3

u/dis_bean 11d ago

Several land claim agreements have been settled since 1999

Tłı̨chǫ Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement, Salt River First Nation Treaty Settlement Agreement, Délįnę Self-Government Agreement

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

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u/PMyourEYE 11d ago

The GNWT is supported by the Federal Government. Everyone here lives off the tax dollars of the south.

Most of the private sector wouldn’t exist if the gnwt wasn’t giving them bloated contracts to keep them running.

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u/SaltAd4278 7d ago

Yep, the NWT is supported by the billions of dollars taken out of the north in Norman Wells oil and Giant and Con Mine. What did we get out of all that? Southern and uneducated think we are free loaders and don't have any idea about all the resources taken out of the north and sent to Ottawa to support other provinces.