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Candidates declared for Iqaluit municipal byelection Four residents running for vacant city council seat
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, September 28, 2013
IQALUIT
Seven Iqaluit residents have thrown their hats in the ring to run in the upcoming municipal byelection, held on Oct. 28.
Four Iqaluit residents have declared their candidacies for the lone city council seat: Lewis MacKay, Noah Papatsie, Douglas Cox and Stephen Mansell. - NNSL file photo
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Four candidates are vying for the lone city council seat, left vacant since April when former councilor Jimmy Kilabuk announced his resignation due to poor health.
Lewis MacKay, Noah Papatsie, Douglas Cox and Stephen Mansell will vie to become the city's eighth councillor.
Of the group, only Mansell has previous council experience, having served in 2011 when he replaced outgoing councillor Mary Akpalialuk.
MacKay ran in last year's municipal election, narrowly missing out on a seat. He received 7.2 per cent of votes, as opposed to Mark Morrissey, who was elected with 8.1 per cent of votes.
Noah Papatsie ran for mayor in the same election and finished third behind Allen Hayward and current mayor John Graham.
The residents had to declare their candidacy before the Sept. 23 deadline.
Additionally, there are two positions available with the Commission Scolaire Francophone du Nunavut and two with the Iqaluit District Education Authority (IDEA).
Three candidates are vying for the French school board positions: Luc Brisebois, Manon Painchaud and Michel Potvin.
No residents declared their candidacy for the IDEA seats and the nomination period was subsequently extended until Sept. 30 by chief returning officer Kirt Ejesiak.
Polling stations for the municipal election will be held at the Cadet Hall and Abe Okpik Hall in Apex.
Ejesiak said the city is using the same system used for last year's municipal election.
"It's an electronic tabulator with paper ballots," he said in an e-mail. "It's as accurate as one can get and reduces all the human error involved with manually counting. The system we'll use is very quick, as the results are almost instant after the closing of the polls."
The decision to hold both municipal and territorial elections on the same day was primarily a cost-saving measure.
Mayor John Graham estimated the city would save approximately $50,000 by doing so.
Approximately 42 per cent of voters turned out for last year's municipal election.
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