Members of the Conservative Party of Canada postponed attending the opening Stanley Cup game to sit in a hotel conference room Saturday night and listen to candidates' policy arguments and responses ahead of an election that may be more than a year away.
Former state Rep. Jackie Jacobson and Kimberly Fairman, executive director of the Circumpolar Health Research Institute, each made their case before a few dozen party members and those who attended online.
Jacobson, a Tuktoyaktuk resident, criticized the north's carbon tax, poor infrastructure, lack of decent housing, high cost of living and poor health care. Unlike Fairman, Jacobson quoted Conservative Leader Pierre Poirierbre on multiple occasions.
Jackie Jacobson made the case Saturday night for why she should be the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in the North West in the next federal election. (James O'Connor/CKLB)
“The carbon tax is impacting every corner of our community – the cost of living, food, transportation. It's the shops that are getting the blame. This NDP-Liberal government has no idea what they're doing, what their policies are. I feel the Western Arctic has been ignored for years.”
“I think we can do a lot of good things. I believe in the plan that Pierre Poirievre has for our country. My grandchildren are going to pay the price for the mistakes of these fools… this NDP-Liberal government… I want change.”
Fairman, who moved to Yellowknife from Inuvik decades ago, also spoke about carbon taxes, gun control, the Northwest Territories' struggling economy and allowing a “combination of private and public options” to help the country's overburdened health-care system.
“Over the past few years of Liberal government, we've seen home prices soar and mortgage and mortgage rates change unpredictably. We've experienced a pandemic that has divided our people and divided Canadians along ideological lines.
Kimberley Fairman addressed the assembled Northwest Territories Conservative Party members on Saturday night. (James O'Connor/CKLB)
“Businesses have closed, mines have reached the end of their lifespan, jobs have been lost, childcare programs have created further stress and pressure on an already overburdened industry, and a health care system that has been overwhelmed and further impacted by the pressures and stresses of the pandemic.
“All of this made me angry… and I'm still angry, and I'm angry about some of the things that are going on and the inability or unwillingness of the current government to find practical ways to address those concerns and stop saying, you know how I run my life, I don't need government in my business, I need viable options.”
Pre-screened questions from party members focused on economic issues, with recurring themes including the need to resolve outstanding land claims and further the extraction of natural resources.
Northwest Territories residents have not sent a Conservative member of parliament to Ottawa since the late 1980s, instead choosing either the NDP or Liberal representatives.
In the pandemic-plagued 2021 federal election, the Conservatives fielded candidate Lee Morrison on the absentee ballot, but Morrison did not campaign in the Northwest Territories, preferring to avoid media interviews from his home in Thunder Bay.
She placed third out of five candidates, a significant drop in her vote share from the 2019 election.
The Liberal-New Democrat coalition government could collapse at any time, but the next election could be held as soon as autumn 2025.
The NDP has already endorsed Kevin Cotchery.
The Tulicho, Behchoko resident finished a respectable second in the 2021 federal election behind long-time Liberal incumbent Michael McLeod.
Conservatives will choose between Jacobson and Fairman through a combination of mail-in and in-person voting at the end of June.
Canada's 2121 election results. (Image courtesy of Elections Canada)
