Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 08/02) - The smell of Nunavut's second territorial-wide election is in the air even though the long-awaited event is at least another year away.

Rumours are already flying about who will run in the MLA race and who won't -- even a move to a new community is enough to trigger intense speculation about potential candidates jockeying for position.

It is not, however, all just gossip. A massive increase in the budget of the chief electoral officer is the primary indication that a second election will be called no later than March 31, 2004. As tabled by Finance Minister Kelvin Ng in the 2002-2003 fiscal plan earlier this year, the office of the chief electoral officer was allotted a budget of $500,000. That's up from the $72,000 earmarked in the previous fiscal year.

Ng said the dramatic increase would be used by Sandy Kusugak, the territory's chief electoral officer, to get Nunavut ready to head to the polls.

"It's for getting the chief electoral officer's office up and established -- basically prepared for an election and any ongoing duties she undertakes," said Ng, from his constituency office in Cambridge Bay.

John Quirke, the clerk of the legislative assembly, oversees Elections Nunavut. In explaining how the money would be spent, he said the brunt of it would be used to secure office space in Rankin Inlet and to purchase the necessary equipment. The funding will pay Kusugak's salary and provide her with three additional staff. It will also be used to help design the office's logo and to pay for the completion and translation of the Nunavut Elections Act.

"We'll have the final draft done by late August or early September and it will be reviewed by caucus shortly after that," said Quirke. "Our goal is to have the new Nunavut Elections Act in place by the next election."

As for when Nunavummiut can expect to head to the polls, Ng said the territory's 19 members were in the process of deciding if they should follow conventions established by their predecessors in the Northwest Territories government.

"If we follow the past practices of the Northwest Territories, it will be the fall of 2003 some time," said Ng. "My guess is probably this fall or the latest by the spring of 2003 they'll make a decision."

Quirke said the territory's next budget would include an even larger chunk of money for the office in order to accommodate the actual election.

"There will be an even more significant increase in the budget in the next fiscal year."