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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
There will be no need for appointments to hamlet councils with elections set for Dec. 10.

All 10 hamlets holding elections now have enough candidates to fill the open seats on council and for mayor. The vast majority of the seats will be contested and only a relative few have been acclaimed.

David Kravitz, the manager of community governance and the chief municipal electoral officer with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), said most communities attract enough nominees to hold elections or acclaim a full council.

"It's happened only twice before, where we've had a lack of candidates," he said.

The final three communities to nominate candidates were Enterprise, Sachs Harbour and Fort Liard, which extended the deadline for nominations to Nov. 19 from the original close of nominations on Nov. 12.

In Enterprise, three people have been acclaimed to council - incumbents Jim Dives and Tammy Neal, and former mayor Allan Flamand.

In Sachs Harbour, there are five candidates for three seats on council - Vernon Amos, Samantha Lucas, incumbent Donna Keogak, Sharon Green and Beverly Amos.

In Fort Liard, two candidates - Sahadat Farzana and Francine Kotchea - were nominated for two seats available in a byelection and were acclaimed to council.

John McKee, the senior administrative officer with the Hamlet of Fort Liard, said the byelection was necessary to replace two appointees whose terms expire at the end of the year.

Kravitz is generally pleased with the number of candidates for the hamlet elections this year, noting there are 78 candidates for 41 seats as councillors.

"That includes the five that were acclaimed," he noted, referring to Enterprise and Fort Liard. "So really we've got 73 candidates for 36 positions. So that's not so bad."

When nominations closed on Nov. 12, Betty Hoagak was acclaimed mayor in Sachs Harbour and Ray Ruben Sr. was acclaimed mayor in Paulatuk.

"But everywhere else we've got contests," Kravitz said.

Along with Enterprise, Sachs Harbour and Fort Liard, elections will be held in Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok. Varying numbers of councillors are to be elected in each community and not all are electing a mayor this year.

Tulita doesn't have an election this year because that community is on a different cycle.

Kravitz noted there are large numbers of candidates in several communities.

In Fort Providence, 14 candidates are running for six council seats and two for mayor, while there are eight candidates for three council seats in Fort Resolution. In Ulukhaktok, there are 12 candidates for eight council seats and four for mayor.

"We'd always like to see more people," Kravitz said. "We think that municipalities and municipal government are very important and people should participate. We're always looking to encourage more people to run."

The MACA official added the department always likes to see elections, rather than just acclamations, but that is not always possible especially in small communities.

Kravitz noted only 16 per cent of positions over the last 16 years have been filled by acclamation, while 84 per cent have been filled by elections.

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