The chief of Behchoko, N.W.T., says he will name Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. in a formal complaint to Elections N.W.T. over an anonymous fax sent from the company's mine site on the day of the territory's election.
Chief Leon Lafferty said Diavik's acting president would not tell him in a meeting Wednesday which employee was responsible for the fax, which was sent from "Diavik Site Services" while the polls were open Monday.
The one-page missive slammed incumbent Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty and urged people to vote for the other candidate, former MLA Henry Zoe. The fax also blasted Leon Lafferty's record as chief.
Leon Lafferty said the company provided no details on how the sender had been disciplined. Since he doesn't know who sent the fax, he said he will name Diavik when he files his complaint later this week.
"I'm not going to say any individual did it. Diavik did it. They faxed it out and on it they said, 'post it up.' So … automatically it becomes a poster," Lafferty told CBC News after the meeting Wednesday afternoon.
"There's defaming information on there, there's inaccuracies. They're lying in the document about Jackson and myself."
Jackson Lafferty was re-elected in the Monfwi district, gaining 54 per cent of votes compared to Zoe's 46 per cent. Still, both he and Leon Lafferty said they believe the fax affected results in Behchoko, where Zoe received the most votes.
Earlier this week, a Diavik spokesman said the company had determined who sent the fax, but did not feel it was appropriate to release the sender's name.
Company officials also contacted those who received the fax and told them Diavik was not involved in sending it.
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- The chief of Behchoko, N.W.T., says he will name Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. in a formal complaint to Elections N.W.T. over an anonymous fax sent from the company's mine site on the day of the territory's election.
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