Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 26, 2007

HAY RIVER - A recent court decision ousting all members of Hay River town council - except the mayor - appears to have not dampened the enthusiasm of would-be councillors.

In fact, there are more candidates for the Dec. 10 byelection than ran for the overturned vote of October, 2006.

When nominations closed Nov. 21, a total of 16 people had put forward their names for the eight available positions.

Seven of the eight ousted councillors are running again. They are Tom Hamilton, Ronald Karp, Mike Maher, Peter Maher, Vince McKay, Dean McMeekin and Kevin Wallington.

The nine other candidates are former mayor Diana Ehman, Pat Burnstad, Alonzo Croucher, Earle Dumas, Michael Huard, Ken Latour, Beatrice Lepine, Sandra Lester and Dawna O'Brien.

Mayor John Pollard said he is not surprised by the number of candidates, adding it is not that many more than the 12 who ran last time.

"I think it's very healthy so many people want to serve the Town of Hay River and the people of Hay River," he said.

Pollard said he doesn't know why people decided to run, so he can't say whether or not the court case had any effect.

Beatrice Lepine is impressed by the number of candidates, particularly that five women are running.

"I am quite pleased because it allows for more diversity on council," she said.

In the last election, only one woman - incumbent Diana Ehman - ran for mayor and none for council. Ehman said she is happy to see both the high number of candidates and, more particularly, women candidates.

"This is the most women I've ever seen run in a municipal election in Hay River," she said.

Lepine is also pleased there are a number of younger people running.

She said her involvement in the court case that overturned the last election had no effect on her decision to run, noting she served on council in the 1990s.

She testified about the poor condition of the polling station on Vale Island.

The new councillors will be sworn in on Dec. 11.

It will then be right to work as a draft budget is being prepared for them to begin reviewing.

The only member of the ousted council not running is Ron Cook. That is because he plans to leave the community next fall for British Columbia.

The council positions became vacant as a result of a court ruling on Oct. 31.

Although there were numerous irregularities in the 2006 election, Supreme Court Justice John Vertes overturned the vote for council mainly because the ballots were counted by candidates' scrutineers.

Pollard was not removed from office because the ballots for mayor were counted as required by the returning officer and deputy returning officer.

The court case was the result of a civil action launched by Hay River resident Wayne Keefe against then returning officer Selena Pukanich.

The new councillors will serve until the next regularly scheduled municipal election in October 2009.

The Hay River Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a candidates' forum on Nov. 29, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the community hall.