Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 15/99) - Though most won't be declared until the annual general meeting begins, a few contenders vying to become the new president of the NWT Association of Municipalities are emerging.

Delegates of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities will elect a president at the same March 4-7 meetings in Cambridge Bay. The selection of candidates they will have to choose from will become clearer after today's Nunavut election.

For the West, current president and Inuvik Mayor George Roach indicated he wants to try for another term to see the association through division. Yellowknife city councillor Bob Brooks, a director for the past year, is also considering it.

"I've been with the association for seven years and been on the board and worked with all of the different committees. If I decide to run for president or vice-president or just to remain on the board, at least I'll have the background knowledge to be able to do that."

With a laugh, Roach said he's gone from "zero to hero," never having served as a director before being elected to a one-year term as president last year.

Hay River Mayor Jack Rowe said he was asked, but has decided not to throw his hat into the ring.

"I've had the opportunity to be involved as a director for the last year, and also as a member of the NWTAM through the community for quite a few years, but I don't have the time available to put my name forward," said Rowe.

He added that the association would be served well if Roach was re-elected for another term.

Though it is not on the agenda for the meeting, the rift that has arisen between Yellowknife and the rest of the communities in the West promises to be one of the hotter topics of conversation.

That resentment -- evident in recent disputes over diamond spin-off business, roads to resources and electoral boundaries -- will also figure into any electoral race including a Yellowknife candidate.

Because of the rift, at a recent committee meeting Yellowknife councillors agreed to hold off on a planned formalization of its ties to the Kitikmeot region.

But Brooks minimized the resentment.

"That's a favourite argument from a lot of different sectors," he said, offering as an example the perception in smaller communities that regional centres, such as Fort Simpson and Hay River, are coddled.

The Yellowknife councillor knows that if he is to be elected, he will have to drum up support from delegates outside the city.

"There's no way one community or even region can dominate the election. The idea is to make your points known, try to get support from other communities and work together."