One possibility is that the federal government may have to step in and pass amending legislation to provide for an election in the NWT. This could only be done by an Act of Parliament. It does not appear that the federal government would have the power to prescribe the electoral districts for a territorial election except by an amendment to the NWT Act.

Alternatively, if the sunset clause came into effect and dissolved the Assembly without a way for the people to elect their representatives, a member of the public or an interest group might challenge the legality of the sunset clause under section 3 of the Charter, on the grounds that the sunset clause is an unreasonable infringement of the right to vote in an election of a Legislative Assembly.