Hay River (Mar 29/04) - Three hopefuls will let their names stand in a byelection for Hay River Town Council.

The candidates are Peter Maher, Henry White and Glen Rourke.

The byelection is set for April 26.

The council seat became vacant with the Feb. 4 death of Glen Smart, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Maher, 42, is a former councillor, who unsuccessfully ran for the mayor's job in last year's election after serving three years on council.

Maher is employed as the stocks manager with the NWT Liquor Commission.

The former councillor lists land access as one of his main issues. "The town can't grow unless we have land from the territorial government."

White is a barber who has lived in Hay River for seven years.

"This is one way that I will have an opportunity to give something back to the community," he says.

White admitting he doesn't know a lot about politics, he notes he didn't know much about barbering when he first started his career.

Rourke could not be reached for comment.

Another person, Kevin Wallington, had planned to run, but filed his nomination papers 20 minutes too late on March 22.