LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - A mayoral race is set to begin in Fort Simpson while the village is still seeking enough candidates to fill vacant council seats.

Incumbent Mayor Duncan Canvin is up for re-election facing competition from Sean Whelly..

"I just wanted to make sure that people in Simpson had a choice. Last election everyone was acclaimed," Sean Whelly told Deh Cho Drum.

"Hopefully this will give them a chance to have a debate during the election period," said Whelly, who is a business development officer with the Deh Cho Business Development Centre.

The longtime Fort Simpson resident said his plans are to listen to the public and hear what they want done.

"I'd say I'm more focused on making life more enjoyable for the residents that live in the community," said Whelly, adding he would like to see improvement to things like green spaces around town, the quality of the roads, and the number of public facilities available.

Whelly said he's not, at the moment, concerned with issues like the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, and he is more community-oriented.

"Rather than any specific large resource development issue, I'd rather just keep the issues close to home," said Whelly.

"I guess I'm just looking at offering a new style of leadership in Fort Simpson, one that's a little more oriented to listening to what the public has to say, a little more public input," said Whelly.

Canvin said he has been asked by members of the community to run again, and he thinks that community would benefit from having someone as mayor who already knows the ropes of the office.

"As far as issues for the election goes, I don't think anybody gets elected because of promises - it's what you can do and whether or not you get things done," said Canvin.

"I think that's the reason I was elected in the first place."

Canvin said the issues he wants to see resolved for the city are already being worked on.

"I'd like to see the sewage treatment plant repaired, the development of a track and soccer field down on the flats in co-operation with Liidlii Kue First Nations - basically a lot of it is things that are already in play," said Canvin.

Canvin also said he'd like to try and drive down the price of energy through talks with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

"Residents have seen their energy costs climb considerably," said Canvin, continuing to say that it is one of the biggest financial issues in the community.

As far as the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline is concerned, Canvin said nothing can be done at the moment until the review process that is currently underway is finished.

"We're still confident that the pipeline will proceed, but in whose lifetime is beyond me," Canvin said.

However, council nominations have been extended as not enough candidates came forward to hold an election.

The nominations for village councillors have been extended until Sept. 21.

The election for mayor and councillors will take place on Oct. 19.