Cambridge Bay (Oct 23/06) - Cambridge Bay has a new senior administrative officer.

Bill Buckle, is a favourite hired hand of the Government of Nunavut, known for his ability to take hamlets in trouble and help turn them around.

Buckle has agreed to a six-month term of service in Cambridge Bay, and Mayor Michelle Gillis is happy with the choice.

"He is a consultant out of Edmonton and has worked all over the North. It is not his plan to stay, but he will help us get a new permanent SAO," said Gillis.

Mayor Gillis wants Buckle to focus on "policy and planning, and our by-laws".

Buckle has been SAO in a number of northern communities, and was the choice of the GN in April 2004, when Qikiqtarjuaq needed help. Qikiqtarjuaq was facing a $1 million deficit, and Buckle was appointed to the SAO job to help clean up the hamlet's problems.

The department of Community and Government services (CG&S) played a role in the selection of Buckle, but not as big a role as originally planned.

When former SAO Mark Calliou was fired by the Cambridge Bay council, one of the motions made in the fallout was to submit to voluntary supervision from CG&S. In the hunt for a new administrator, CG&S developed a short list of six candidates.

The motion for "voluntary supervision" has been amended by council to read "assistance."

"We agreed to voluntary supervision, but we didn't realize how much control would be taken away. In our discussions with CG&S, we both decided to go with assistance," said Gillis.

Fire-fighters in Cambridge Bay led the charge for Calliou's dismissal, and walked off the job when they didn't get the immediate response they were looking for. With Calliou out of the picture, Gillis reports "from what I understand, we have had a few people come back."