N.W.T. health minister running for Tories

Northwest Territories Health Minister Sandy Lee has left her territorial seat — and her Liberal roots — to enter the federal election race as the Conservatives' candidate in Western Arctic.

After officially resigning as health minister and the MLA for Yellowknife Range Lake on Saturday, Lee said she is setting up her campaign office in the N.W.T. capital and going door to door right away.

"A decision like this you have to make on your own," Lee told CBC News on Monday.

"After 12 years of being in the legislature, I think I know how to stand up and fight, and I had to make a decision as to do I want to put my name forward, do a campaign, and ask the people to send me to Ottawa so I could work for them?"

Lee had been the MLA for Yellowknife Range Lake since 1999 and the territory's health minister since 2007.

In the federal race, she is running against incumbent Dennis Bevington of the NDP, as well as former N.W.T. premier and Liberal candidate Joe Handley and Green Party candidate Eli Purchase. Voters will go to the polls on May 2.

Lost faith in Liberals

A longtime Liberal Party member, Lee said she has switched to the Tories because she believes that party is more committed to the North.

That commitment was demonstrated when last week's federal budget pledged $150 million for a highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., she said.

"That $150-million investment to [the] Tuk-Inuvik highway is a fruit of years of work by the leadership in [the] Beaufort Delta," she said. "It's the kind of project that trains and retains our community people, and it's going see results for years."

Lee added that others have lost faith in the Liberals and are joining her campaign.

"In politics, it's not easy to make everyone happy," she said.

"But I have to tell you that many, many Conservative members and their leadership see that the party has been successful in attracting a lot of people that are not traditionally thought of as core conservative."

Contentious decision

Some members of the Western Arctic Conservative Association have said Lee's candidacy was contentious, with some even launching a last-ditch effort to add former N.W.T. cabinet minister John Pollard to the nomination list.

Association president Doug Witty would not comment on internal party matters, only saying that the final decision was made in Ottawa.

"Sandy Lee was appointed by the Conservative Party headquarters, so that shows she's our candidate," Witty said.

Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger will take on Lee's cabinet portfolios for the time being, a cabinet spokesman told CBC News. MLAs will have to decide if they want to her cabinet spot to be filled.

Because a territorial election is coming up in October, no byelection is needed in the Range Lake constituency, according to officials.

Yellowknife pharmacist Daryl Dolynny announced on Monday that he plans to run in Range Lake this fall.

Yukon Tory targets younger voters

Conservatives in Yukon confirmed Ryan Leef as their candidate this past weekend in Whitehorse.

Leef, a 37-year-old corrections superintendent at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, was acclaimed at a nomination meeting Saturday night. An earlier candidate, Gerard Fleming, had withdrawn his name.

He is running against Liberal incumbent MP Larry Bagnell and Green Party candidate John Streicker.

Born and raised in Yukon, Leef has worked as an RCMP officer, a conservation officer, a big-game outfitter and a martial arts trainer. He competed in two professional cage fights last year.

"I think people can connect to that and see [that] hey, this is somebody who isn't scared of the work ahead and goes hard at a challenge," Leef said.

"That, I think, will start to inspire some of the people that have been shying away from political interests in the past."

Yukon's New Democrats will meet on Wednesday to choose their candidate. Whitehorse musician Kevin Barr and Yukon Federation of Labour president Alex Furlong are vying for the candidacy.

Aglukkaq sole candidate in Nunavut

Meanwhile, Nunavut Conservative MP Leona Aglukkaq remains unchallenged in that territory's election race, as the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens have yet to announce their candidates.

Aglukkaq, who is also federal health minister, said she plans to promote her record in the past term she has been in office.

"In terms of platforms and whatnot, that'll be rolling out through the campaign," she said.

"I can speak to my accomplishments, I can speak to the many achievements and areas that I think are making a big difference to many people in the North."

Aglukkaq said she hopes to visit all of Nunavut's communities before the May 2 election.

The Green Party did have Paul Azzarello confirmed as its candidate in Nunavut, but party officials announced on Sunday that Azzarello has declined to run for unspecified personal reasons.

Green Party officials said they are searching for another candidate in the territory.