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N.W.T. MLA says dropped confidence motion was not a 'knee-jerk' reaction

The head of the committee of MLAs that put forward a confidence motion against an N.W.T. cabinet member last week won't say why the motion was dropped just two days later.

Steve Norn, the MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh and the chair of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, gave notice of a confidence motion on Wednesday, targeting Great Slave MLA Katrina Nokleby. It could have seen her lose her positions as minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and minister of Infrastructure.

The motion was brought forward, Norn said, due to "concerns about the member for Great Slave's performance as a cabinet minister." Rocky Simpson, MLA for Hay River South, seconded the motion.

It faced quick public backlash — hundreds of people signed a petition calling for Nokleby to remain in cabinet and the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines also submitted an open letter in Nokleby's defence.

The debate and vote were scheduled for Friday — but that didn't happen. The motion was withdrawn by Norn before then.

On CBC's The Trailbreaker Monday morning, Norn said the non-confidence vote was not put forward on "a whim."

Instead he called it "step 50" of a long chain of events that left members unsatisfied with Nokleby's ministerial department.

Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada
Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada

"We saw this as the best course of action at the time," he said.

"We had many meetings to get to this point ...This was not a knee-jerk at all ... this is serious."

Norn wouldn't speak to other members' reasons for the motion, but said he felt there was a lot of stalling.

"I thought there wasn't enough progress," he said. "I know that we're in the middle of [the COVID-19 pandemic], we've got bigger issues to worry about like jobs, the economy, housing, that sort of stuff. But we still needed to have things going. I just felt that that wasn't happening."

Norn says his constituents were supportive of the motion, though he also received "unsavoury" messages from the public.

'There was no shady deal'

But when it comes to the exact details of why the motion was withdrawn, Norn wouldn't say, just that he's determined to move forward.

"There was no shady deal. There was no backroom deals and nothing like that happened here," he said.

"We had a good discussion. And then basically we had an agreement for how we're going to move forward and we left it at that."

He said all the MLAs' "biggest job right now is to get as much juice or squeeze as we can out of this government."

"People deserve better. That's why we're here," he said. "We need to find a better system to go forward and try to keep the checks and balances and try to keep the government accountable as best as possible."

Nokleby was elected in October and is serving her first term in cabinet and her first term as an MLA.

As the minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, Nokleby has overseen the government's response to massive economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, that's included millions of dollars in emergency loans, which many small business owners have said fail to meet their needs. Nokleby is also the minister of Infrastructure and the minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.

Nokleby declined CBC's request for an interview, but last week released a statement with Premier Caroline Cochrane.

Cochrane also said Friday she has "complete confidence" in Nokleby, and that the motion's abrupt withdrawal was a sign of unity.

Walter Strong/CBC
Walter Strong/CBC