Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Resolute (June 17/02) - Resolute's mayor and council have put their money where their mouths are.

Faced with a large deficit, council voted on June 3 to abolish their honorariums for two years. The move will save the hamlet about $30,000 this year.

At the same meeting, council voted to suspend wage increases for hamlet employees for one year.

According to Mayor Aziz Kheraj, Resolute is the only council in Nunavut to refuse money for service. He said it took three months to rally support for the idea among councillors.

Deputy mayor Tabitha Mullin was out of town for the vote, but supported the idea. "It's helping the hamlet recover the deficit," she said. "I feel it is the right thing to do."

Long-time Resolute resident Terry Jesudason was at the meeting.

When on council herself several years ago, Jesudason gave back her honorarium after "realizing we were in deep financial trouble."

At the time, nobody followed suit. So she thinks the new council's fiscally responsible approach is "marvellous."

When elected last December, the new mayor promised to eliminate the tiny hamlet's substantial deficit. Since that time the $137,000 deficit has dropped by half.

Senior administrative officer Ralph Alexander said the hamlet started to cut back on spending two years ago. Staff began using partial lights, doing without a photocopier and cutting water consumption. "I expect the deficit to be gone by this time next year," he said.

The hamlet also decided against sending representatives to the last Nunavut Association of Municipalities meeting in Ottawa. "We felt it wasn't fiscally responsible to spend $8,000," he said. "We could use that money for training."

Alexander said he believes Resolute is underfunded by the territorial government. "We haven't had an increase in six years that covers increased freight or increased wages or anything like that."