Cambridge Bay Mayor Keith Peterson, the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, said the organization's board of directors took the initiative to distribute to all communities the rules of conduct the hamlet of Cambridge Bay currently follows.

Peterson said the idea was for other communities to use the code as a template and to gear it to their specific needs.

Peterson said NAM wanted to see mayors and council members become more accountable to the people they are elected to represent.

"I think it's necessary for any organization that's responsible for lots of money and staff to have rules to hold them accountable to their communities," explained Peterson.

"Mayors and council should have rules of conduct so they have guidelines to govern themselves," he said.

The example provided to communities includes rules on sexual harassment, not using their authority to gain special privileges, a policy on receiving gifts, travel guidelines and how to proceed if they are charged with a criminal offence.

Under current law, an elected official who is convicted of an offence and sent to jail must resign.

In addition, residents who are convicted of an offence and sentenced to five or more years in jail during the three-year period leading up to an election are prevented from running for office.

Two Nunavut mayors and one council member currently face serious sex-related charges.

One of those mayors is running for re-election during the municipal vote on Dec. 9. The other mayor is still in office, as is the council member.

Kugluktuk councillor Gordon Bolduc was charged Nov. 20 with four counts of indecent assault, seven counts of sexual assault and five counts of buggery.

Three different adult male complainants allege the incidents occurred in the hamlet between 1968 and 1998.

Bolduc was released from custody on an undertaking, but Kugluktuk RCMP Const. Mike Lokken refused to say what the conditions of his release were.

Bolduc will appear in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Kugluktuk Dec. 11.

As well as working as an adult educator in the community, Bolduc has served on Kugluktuk's hamlet council for about 10 years.