The Legislative Assembly in the Northwest Territories announced that the general elections scheduled for October 3 may be postponed to November due to the ongoing wildfires that have displaced more than half of the population in this Canadian territory which has a plural name.

This decision is under consideration and has the support of all 19 members, and it came based on a recommendation from the Chief Electoral Officer of the independent elections board, Stephen Dunbar, who clarified in a statement that the evacuations in many towns and cities in this territory, including the capital Yellowknife, threaten the proper conduct of the upcoming election campaign.

Members of the Legislative Assembly are expected to discuss Dunbar's recommendation on August 28 at 1:30 PM.

The meeting location has not yet been determined. If the members cannot meet in Yellowknife, which is under an evacuation order, they will meet in Inuvik, in the far northwest of the territory, instead.

The meeting will also have another objective, as the members will announce, through a vote, whether they agree to allocate more funds to cover costs related to the wildfires.

If the members vote against the formal postponement of the elections, the electoral process will proceed as scheduled, with the campaign launching on September 4.

In this case, Dunbar will postpone the elections in all areas covered by the evacuation order for up to three months, which may mean that members will be elected on different dates.

The Northwest Territories cover an area of about 1.35 million square kilometers. The population of this vast territory is only about 45,700 according to estimates from the Canadian Statistics Agency for the second quarter of this year.