NWT premier calls it quits

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Premier Nellie Cournoyea has ended months of speculation by announcing she is leaving the Legislative Assembly to go back to her first political love, the Inuvialuit and their land claim.

"I will not be running for a seat on the Legislative Assembly in October's election," she said. Cournoyea currently represents the riding of Nunakput, which includes four Beaufort Sea-Mackenzie Delta communities.

Cournoyea has been a member of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly since 1979. She confirmed she will seek the chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

During her 16 years as an MLA, Cournoyea has held many of the portfolios in the N.W.T. cabinet.

She became known for her negotiating skills, particularly in the transfer of powers from the federal government to the territorial administration.

The initiative for which she wants to be remembered is the transfer of more responsibility to communities.

She's also proud of progress in dealing the north's pressing social issues, through a community wellness strategy, the new Education Act, income support reform, family law reform, a liquor law review, steps to improve the delivery of child care and health services and the Assembly's "zero tolerance" declaration on violence against women.

Perhaps her biggest disappointment has been the delay in the transfer of responsibility for oil, gas and minerals ? the "Northern Accord" ? from the federal to the territorial government. It's an issue Cournoyea has been working on since 1987.

Is she getting out while the going's good?

The main task of the new Legislative Assembly will be preparing for the division of the N.W.T. into the new eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut and an as-yet-unnamed new western territory. Division is expected to take place in 1999.

The real challenge for new MLAs will be to see that it happens in "a respectful manner," as Cournoyea puts it, without excessive east-west bickering. And Cournoyea admits the job won't be easy, with federal funding cutbacks.

"The population of the N.W.T. is small. The need for a common vision gets stronger every day," Cournoyea said.

"We can't afford developments that take place in isolation or for selfish reasons, and we certainly can't afford to be fragmented in our approach to constitutional development."