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Five communities to elect new mayors

Voters have plenty of choices among candidates, issues

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

Dec. 8 is municipal election day throughout Nunavut - when communities will chose new mayors and councillors.

Only five communities will see a new mayor following the election - Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Whale Cove and Cambridge Bay.

The mayors of Coral Harbour and Grise Fiord will be returned automatically to their positions for another term, because their candidacies were uncontested.

In the balance of Nunavut's communities, the term for the position of mayor is not up yet.

Resolute Bay
Aziz Kheraj stirred up political life as mayor of Resolute Bay, but things may soon return to normal, as the businessman and chair of the district education authority has decided not to seek a second term.

Kheraj won by a single vote in 2001, beating former mayor George Eckalook, who is running again this year.

Last summer, 30 residents of the community signed a petition to force Kheraj to resign, saying he refused to help Inuit, but he refused to step down.

"I've done nothing wrong and I won't resign," he said at the time.

Then, in December 2002, Kheraj went to court to face conflict-of-interest allegations brought by Wayne Davidson, then a hamlet councillor. Davidson claimed that by housing the hamlet's new senior administrative officer in a hotel he partly owns, Kheraj put himself in conflict of interest.

But in April 2003, Justice Earl Johnson found Kheraj made an honest error by housing the SAO before the hamlet passed a bylaw authorizing the hiring. He dismissed Davidson's application to have Kheraj removed as mayor.

He has no plans to run in the territorial election but wouldn't rule out returning to municipal politics, saying until the time comes he will continue to dedicate himself to his growing business interests.

Kheraj is throwing his support behind Susan Salluviniq, Resolute Bay's SAO during the years leading up to the creation of Nunavut.

Joining Eckalook and Salluviniq in the race for mayor is Saroomee Manik.

Arctic Bay
The upcoming municipal election in Arctic Bay is generating a lot of interest - with five candidates for mayor.

They are: Noire Iqalukjuak, a former mayor now working at the local housing authority; Kalluk Ettuk, a newcomer to municipal politics who is involved in community radio; Olayuk Naqitarvik, a hamlet councillor; Dwight Tilley, the community's Northwestel technician; and Rodney Reid, a councillor and acting mayor since Oct. 15.

Reid, a former co-op store manager, has lived in the community since 1990. If elected, Reid said he'd work on getting more infrastructure, such as a community centre, and encouraging more economic development through the creation of a community development corporation.

Clyde River
Two women - Leah Tassugat and Igah Hainnu - are vying to be the next mayor of Clyde River.

Tassugat said she is running because she wants to help her community.

Hainnu wants to increase the amount of money the hamlet receives. She has no plan in place to accomplish this, but said she would develop a plan with the new council.

She said her experience as a city councillor has given her the confidence to run for mayor, and she feels that she can make a difference in job creation and economic development for the community.

Outgoing mayor Sandy Kautuq, 27, was Nunavut's youngest mayor when he was elected in 2001.

Kautuq has opted not to run again. Instead, he'll be moving his family from Clyde River to Salluit, where his father-in-law lives.

Whale Cove
Four men are in the running for mayor of Whale Cove.

Jack Angoo is a former mayor and councillor who ran for the mayor's seat once again a couple of years ago and was defeated. He says his first concern is to get the hamlet office operational.

"We need some kind of plan for our community and I'm interested in getting a plan in place to help run our community smoothly," he said.

Louis Oklaga says he decided to run because people asked him. Oklaga has been on the board of the hamlet's hunters and trappers organization and says his experience on the HTO will help him run the municipality of Whale Cove.

Stanley Adjuk, a nursing station employee, has been serving as acting mayor for the past four of five months, after mayor David Kritterdlik left the community to accept a job in Manitoba.

Joining Angoo, Oklaga and Adjuk is Solomon Voisey.

Cambridge Bay
On election day, voters in Cambridge Bay will choose between Bobby Aknavigak, Vivienne Aknavigak, and Terry McCallum for the community's top political job.

Every candidate is promising to work on generating more jobs, more housing and improving the overall health of the community.

If elected mayor, Bobby Aknavigak, 48, said he wants to focus on reducing child poverty in Cambridge Bay. He plans to improve the lot of the community's youth by networking with local schools, and groups like the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.

Aknavigak said the first step will be getting the community to admit the gravity of the problem.

"Alcohol, drug abuse, gambling, those kinds of situations are making people deny that there is child poverty [in Cambridge Bay]," Aknavigak said.

If elected, Vivienne Aknavigak, Bobby's sister-in-law, said she plans to promote the use of Inuinnaqtun, foremost by increasing the amount spoken during council meetings, which have been mostly in English in recent years.

"The language is slowly deteriorating," she said. "I'd like to encourage Inuinnaqtun, and that way they [adults] can be proud of the language and speak it with their children."

Aknavigak, 43, said having a female mayor would also be best for dealing with the community's social problems such as suicide and violence against women.

Terry McCallum's six years of experience as a councillor sets him apart from the other candidates. The 50-year-old territorial government employee said one of his priorities, if elected, will be youth issues.

"One will be getting youth more involved in the community and decision-making process," McCallum said, adding that he would do this through work with the schools and district education authority.

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