N.W.T. MLA slams 'super-secret' voting system for premier, cabinet

At least one N.W.T. MLA is voicing frustration with the secret ballot systemused to select the Northwest Territories' executive council, amid speeches promising increasedtransparency in the new government.

MLAs selected Bob McLeod as premier Wednesday over challenger Glen Abernethy, and elected amix of new andfamiliar faces to the sixcabinet seats.

Two previouscabinet ministers are back: Abernethy and Robert C. McLeod.Alfred Moses, who is starting his second term as an MLA, was also selected for cabinet as well as three brand new MLAs: CarolineCochrane-Johnson, Wally Schumann and Louis Sebert.

As is the custom, all votes were by secret ballot, and not even the total number of votes for each candidatewasrevealed.

The vote for cabinet went to three ballots. After the first ballot, Speaker Jackson Lafferty announced two candidates for cabinet from the south region did not have the minimum required number of votes (10), but as they were tied for the fewest number of votes, neither was dropped from the ballot.

After a second round of voting, Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson was dropped from the ballot. On the third ballot, Schumann and Sebert were selected to cabinet.

Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart expressed frustration with the secret ballot system.

"As we saw today, it's more than a secret ballot system:it's a super-secret ballot system, not even releasing the vote totals," he said.

"We don't know how close people are coming;we don't know the margins of support people have. There's no leadership [process] in a commonwealth country like this perhaps Nunavut might be similar apart from the Territories."

Testart had pledged to reveal how he voted in the leadership ballots and did so in a Facebook post. He wrote he voted forAbernethy for premier;Abernethy andCochrane-Johnson for the Yellowknife region cabinet ballot;McLeod and Danny McNeely for the northern region cabinet ballot;Schumann and Thompson on the first ballot for southern region and Louis Sebert on the second ballot.

Yellowknife North MLACory Vanthuyne also revealed he voted for Abernethy for premier.

In his nomination speech last week,McLeodpledged to designate a minister Responsible for Transparency and Democratic Engagement.

Tough times ahead

The new premier and cabinet will be facingsome tough decisions about money in the18thassembly as theystare down what former Finance Minister MichaelMiltenbergercalled "the edge of a fiscal cliff."

"This isn't going to be an easy assembly," said Abernethy.

"Anybody who thinks we're going to have an easy time is out of their minds.We have stagnant revenue growth. We have hard economic times in front of us."

Sebertsaid the government shouldn't just clamp down on spending.

"I don't think this is the time for excessive financial restraint," he said.

"While we cannot spend ourselves back to prosperity, we should not abandon the programs that assist the most needy among us."

It's up to McLeodtoassign cabinet ministers their portfolios. It's likely he'll do that before Christmas.