Rae visits Yellowknife on Liberal tour

Bob Rae, interim leader of the federal Liberals, has visited Yellowknife in an effort to boost the beleaguered party's profile in the North.

Rae met with Liberal supporters Thursday night in the home of Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins.

As interim leader, Rae said he is working on getting the Liberal Party back on its feet since it reduced to third-party status — a first for the party — in the May 2 election.

Rae said he wants northerners to know what the Liberals stand for on issues such as self-government.

"We're strong supporters of self-government, and that principle of self-government obviously applies to giving territorial governments the power and capacity they need to do their job, but also to aboriginal self-government," Rae told CBC News in an interview.

"We do have to get more power into the hands of local communities. It isn't possible to run the North from Ottawa. It doesn't make sense to try to do that, and it simply can't be done."

Former N.W.T. premier Joe Handley ran for the Liberals in the spring election campaign, but he secured only 18.4 per cent of the vote in the territory's Western Arctic riding.

Handley came in third behind re-elected NDP MP Dennis Bevington and Conservative Sandy Lee, who had 46 and 32 per cent of the vote, respectively.

The Liberals also did not fare well in Canada's two other territories in the election. Longtime Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell was replaced by Conservative Ryan Leef, a political newcomer who edged out Bagnell by 132 votes.

And in Nunavut, former premier Paul Okalik lost to Conservative incumbent Leona Aglukkaq by a 21 per cent margin.

Rae was chosen as interim head  of the Liberals after then-leader Michael Ignatieff resigned in the aftermath of the election.