Hay River South | Jane Groenewegen, Wally Schumann, Brian Willows

There's only one real question in Hay River South: Can anyone beat Jane Groenewegen?

She'swon five straight elections here, including the 1995 election when Hay River was one riding, and 1999 when she was acclaimed. But Groenewegen has never won with huge margins of victory, so her two opponents, businessman Wally Schumann and formerNorthwest Territories Power Corporationexecutive Brian Willows, hope they'll be able to topple her.

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Hay River Southincludes the town centre.high-income suburbs and trailer courts. It also includes the town's onlyhighriseapartment tower, Mackenzie Place, which has been plagued in recent years by structural problems, including unstable balconies and faulty fire alarms.

Jane Groenewegen

Groenewegenhas lived in Hay River for 41 years. She has worked for NTCL, Fisheries and Oceans and as a businesswoman. She's sat on town council and on several local boards. She has also served as president of both the Hay River and N.W.T. chambers of commerce. Groenewegen also served briefly in cabinet before being voted out after improperly taping a conversation with the conflict of interest commissioner.

Groenewegen says she's running on her 20 years experience as an MLA. She says her top issues are securing funding to dredge Hay River's harbour, better services for people with addictions and mental health issues, improvements to the education system, reducing the cost of living and reversing Hay River's population decline.

Wally Schumann

Born in Fort Smith, Schumann has called Hay River home for the last 30 years. He's served as the president and vice-president of the Hay River Mtis Council. He's the owner of Poison Graphics which started as an autobody repair shop in 1998. Schumann has his red seal in autobody repair.

Schumann says Hay River is in an economic slump that threatens its status as the N.W.T.'s hub. He's pledging to support economic initiatives like the wood pellet plant and harbour dredging to help kickstart more economic activity. He also says education is the key to solving most of the N.W.T's economic and social problems. He wants to see the governmentimplement changes to the Education Act and work to bring the territory's graduation rate up.

Brian Willows

Willows came to Hay River from Victoria, B.C., in the mid 1970s and has lived in the N.W.T. ever since. He's the former chief operating officer of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and before that served as the company's director of operations. He's lived in numerous N.W.T. communities.

Willows says the economy and cost of living issues are the most important questions in this election. He says the last government has dragged its heels on energy issues, which is one of the few cost of living issues it can directly do something about. Like other Hay River candidates, he supports dredging the harbour. He also thinks MLA salaries should be frozen and that MLAs should be subject to a three-term limit.