Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Nov 16/98) - Nunavut's deputy chief electoral officer Josh Teemotee Mitsima said his three returning officers are having difficulty locating office space because of a drastic residential and commercial shortage.

"It's been very hard to find space here. Everwhere else it wasn't a problem," said Mitsima.

He explained that once space is located, and until the election writ is issued on Jan.1, the officers would be busy setting up their offices and gathering their necessary materials.

Mitsima said the first draft of the voters' list should be in the hands of the returning officers by the end of December and would be made available to candidates early in January. He added that voters across Nunavut could make needed revisions on Jan.18.

Qikiqtani Elections

Nominations for president and vice- president in the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's upcoming election closed last Friday and it looks as if the competition is going to be tough.

Current acting president Larry Audlaluk was one of the first contenders to throw his hat into the ring and he was promptly joined by fellow board member Pauloosie Keyootak of Qikiqtarjuaq and the MLA for Baffin central, Tommy Enuaraq.

Acting vice-president Pudloo Mingeriak of Kimmirut said he intends to run for the secondary position and Simon Qamanirq and Esa Tatatoapik, both of Arctic Bay, have joined him in that electoral race.

The winner of the presidential term will hold office for one year until the balance of former president Lazarus Arreak's term is finished, while the position of vice-president is scheduled to last for the next three years.

The election is scheduled for Dec. 14.

New committee

Baffin south MLA Goo Arlooktoo formed a new committee in the legislative assembly last week to review new legislation which has to be passed before Nunavut can officially be formed.

Called the Special Committee on Nunavut Legislation, the group includes Eastern Arctic MLAs Levi Barnabas, Tommy Enuaraq, Mark Evaloarjuk, John Ningark, Kevin O'Brien and Ed Picco.

Effective immediately, the committee will review three separate bills which received their first reading in the legislative assembly last week.

They include Bill 14, the Nunavut Judicial System Implementation Act, which, when adopted, will help bring about the necessary changes for a single level trial court system in Nunavut; Bill 15, the Nunavut Statutes Amendment Act, which allows for the duplication of statutes to make them specific to the newly formed territory and Bill 16, the Nunavut Statutes Replacement Act, which, when passed, will adjust the laws currently set up to regulate professional associations.

Under section 76.05 of the Nunavut Act, the GNWT can pass new laws for Nunavut upon the recommendation of interim commissioner Jack Anawak.

Planning award

The Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) won a Treasury Board of Canada award last week for designing technology which makes their job of planning land use in Nunavut much easier.

Known as Planner, the new system allows interested groups like the Nunavut Impact Review Board, the Nunavut Water Board, the Wildlife Management Board and the regional Inuit associations to work together on land use applications with each other, despite the distances that separate them.

This award, and a similar one they received last month, were designed to recognize the efforts of organizations that contribute to the growth of geographic information systems.

NPC primarily maps wildlife and harvest areas and monitors human use and clean-up projects using traditional, contemporary knowledge and computer mapping technology.