When the territory of Nunavut was created by dividing the old Northwest Territories into two political entities there was some discussion in the north about what the western half of the old Northwest Territories should be called.
The 'rest-of-it' was a popular choice, but no doubt cartographers breathed a sigh of relief when the Northwest Territories name was retained.
It is confusing, as the Yukon Territory is actually the western most territory in Canada, and the Yukon community of Beaver Creek on the Alaskan border is actually the most westerly community in Canada. Their strictly unofficial motto is "You're all easterners to us."
To befuddle things more, the Northwest Territories seat in the House of Commons is called the riding of Western Arctic.
No matter what it is called, what is known is that a territory of about 44,000 people gets to send a representative to Ottawa.
The individuals competing for this honour include Sandy Lee for the Conservatives (who a week ago was the NWT health minister until she quit that position for this contest), Joe Handley for the Liberals (a former NWT premier), Dennis Bevington for the NDP (and the incumbent) and Eli Purchase for the Greens.
There might even be an independent running, Alex Debogorski. He is an ice-truck driver (one those drivers who haul goods on ice roads to remote communities and mine sites) and yes, he is one of the stars of the television show Ice Road Truckers.
Hey, if the Yukon has a former cage fighter as one of its candidates, the Northwest Territories also deserves a bit of glamour in their political lineup.
The Northwest Territories has the usual northern issues of housing shortages, lack of political control (the NWT, unlike the Yukon, does not yet have full devolution although this is currently being negotiated) and inadequate education, health care and economic opportunities.
It should be shocking that the word usual is used in the context described above but it does give one an idea of how long these issues have been around, and for how long they have been unresolved.
Add to this the legacy of the residential school system, a boom-bust economy that is dependent on resource extraction with its associated negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts, and thirty-four scattered communities all of which are desperate for improvements in their basic services.
Beyond this, two big contradictory issues that candidates will have to stake out positions on are fossil fuel development and climate change.
Certain segments of the population and the politicians would like to see the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project proceed as quickly as possible. It has received approval from the National Energy Board and Harper's Federal Cabinet signed off on it a few weeks ago.
This project would convey natural gas from the Mackenzie River delta area through a big pipeline to Alberta, where no doubt some of the gas would be used to power the tar sands extraction.
In addition to all the greenhouse gases this would create, the tar sands projects pollute the Athabasca River which eventually flows into the Mackenzie River system and back to the delta from which the natural gas originally came.
So, the North exports fossil fuels and gets toxins and climate change in return.
Climate change is a big issue in the Northwest Territories.
Many of the communities are built either on permafrost or discontinuous permafrost.
When that melts, it is not good for buildings, pipes, roads and all the other infrastructure that humans have become dependent on.
It literally costs millions to either repair these structures or to build new ones that stand a chance in surviving the impacts of climate change.
Climate change also impacts the boreal forest, ensuring that communities that depend upon the boreal either for subsistence living or for commercial activities have to constantly adapt.
Speaking of millions, the incumbent, NDP member Bevington, has apparently irritated a few folks in the Mackenzie delta region for voting against Harper's most recent budget.
There was $150 million in it for an all weather road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. This road would have assisted in the construction of a portion of the Mackenzie Pipeline project as well as providing year-round vehicle access to Tuktoyaktuk residents.
Of course, once the all weather road is in place there would be less work for ice-truck drivers.
For this reason alone, the all-candidates debate should see an interesting discussion between Bevington and Debogorski the ice road trucker (should he decide to run).
Candidates, start your engines.
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