MLA Katrina Nokleby to be fined $4,000 for staying in evacuation zone

Great Slave MLA Katrina Noklebyis facing a $4,000 fine for returning and then staying in Yellowknife as an evacuation order hung over the city in August.

Originally $7,500, the fine was reduced afterNoklebymade a $3,500charitable donation.

"The transgression is not to be taken lightly as it goes against the very principle of responsibility and public safety that we as elected officials are to uphold,"said Richard Edjericon, theMLAforTu Nedh-Wiilideh.

Integrity Commission David Phillip Jones said in a reportissuedTuesday that Nokleby should be fined and reprimanded for breaching the Assembly's code of conduct,and 16 of her fellow MLAs agreed.

Jones's investigation was launched following two complaints he received in late Augustjust after Noklebyreturned to the capital, which wasabout a week after an evacuation order came into effect for the city.The commissioner said he might have also recommended suspension if an election wasn't imminent.

Nokleby returned to Yellowknife on Aug. 25, claiming to have been designated an "essential" worker.

"People were angry," said Julie Green, the MLA for Yellowknife Centre. "They were also in a place they didn't find comforting."

Earlierthis week,Nokleby told CBC she was disappointed bythe integrity commissioner's decision that said she showed poor judgment by returning to Yellowknife during the wildfire evacuation.

"I regret leaving. I wish I'd listened to my gut and I had stayed, because I knew I could help," she told The Trailbreaker.

Noklebysaid she decided to remain even after being told to leave because she was in an "emotional tailspin," which stems from her long battle with depression and anxiety.

"Mental illness does not discriminate. It affects many residents of the Northwest Territories," said Yellowknife South MLA Caroline Wawzonek. "It affectsmany of my constituents, and it affects many of my constituents who were evacuated and abided by the order."

Hay River South MLARocky Simpson told the assembly that he stayed in Hay River, but was able to get on the list of essential workers. He thinks what determines an essential worker should get further studiedby his colleagues.

Noklebysays she still plans to run again in the fall election.