Voters elect three new mayors
Residents of eight hamlets head to the polls to vote in municipal politicians, HTC members
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 15, 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The NWT will be getting three new mayors as a result of hamlet elections on Dec. 8.
Deputy chief municipal electoral officer with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs Valerie Conrad says the hamlet elections held Dec. 8 in eight communities ran smoothly. - photo courtesy of Valerie Conrad |
Those new community leaders will be in Ulukhaktok, Sachs Harbour and Tulita.
In Ulukhaktok, Laverna Klengenberg defeated acting Mayor Mardon Martin by a convincing vote count of 98 to 34.
Martin had been acting mayor since the previous mayor resigned in July.
Klengenberg, who was elected to a two-year term as mayor, is no stranger to hamlet politics, having served as a councillor on and off since the mid-1990s before running for mayor.
"I finally thought this is a good time to give it a try and do the best for the community as a whole," she said.
In Tulita, Gordon Yakeleya won out over two other candidates – Lorraine Doctor and Wilfred Lennie Sr. – in the mayoral race. Yakeleya collected 60 votes, with Doctor and Lennie receiving 43 and 31 votes, respectively.
Outgoing Mayor Danny Yakeleya did not seek re-election after six years leading the hamlet.
Lloyd Acheson will be the new mayor of the Hamlet of Sachs Harbour after narrowly defeating incumbent Mayor Betty Haogak. The vote was 43 for Acheson and 41 for Haogak.
Haogak had been acclaimed mayor in the election of December 2012 to replace her daughter Priscilla Haogak.
Mayor Ray Ruben was acclaimed mayor of Paulatuk as he was in the election of 2012.
Aside for the four races for mayor, councillors were also elected – some by acclamation – in Aklavik, Enterprise, Fort Resolution, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tulita, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok.
All the elected mayors and councillors will be sworn in early in the New Year.
The terms for the winning candidates varies from one, two or three years.
Some of the elections were very close, but none more than the race for the final council seat in Ulukhaktok.
Valerie Conrad, deputy chief municipal electoral officer with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and its acting manager of community governance, added two people tied for that final seat.
If a hamlet doesn't have a bylaw to break such a tie with a by-election, the Local Authorities Elections Act directs that the names of the two candidates be put in a hat, said Conrad.
"And the returning officer pulls the winner out of the hat," she said, explaining that draw is counted as the deciding vote.
This is how Mardon Martin, who ran for both council and the mayor's chair, was credited with 75 votes and Jean Ekpakohak received 74.
Conrad said there were a number of close races.
"I think that where there's small numbers in a community the closeness of the race occurs more than in larger centres," she said.
Returning officers proceeded to automatic recounts in Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk, Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok.
The MACA official said the elections ran smoothly in all eight communities.
"I would really like to commend the returning officers and their staff for their great work," she said.
As of Dec. 10, Conrad had information on voter turnout in five of the communities.
The lowest turnout was in Tuktoyaktuk, where 28 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot.
"Fort Res was the highest. They had a 64 per cent turnout. So that's really good. That's excellent," she said.
There were no elections this year in the hamlets of Fort Providence and Fort Liard.
In July, the GNWT dissolved the council in the Hamlet of Fort McPherson and a municipal administrator was appointed to run the local government.
And the winners are...
The following is a list of successful candidates in the hamlet elections of Dec. 8:
Aklavik Council:
Fredrick D. Arey, Michael Greenland, Jordan McLeod, Richard Storr
Enterprise Council (acclaimed):
James V. Dives, Daniel Harley, Eric Moses
Fort Resolution Council:
Frank Fabien, Tammy Hunter-McKay, Brandie Miersch
Paulatuk
Mayor (acclaimed): Ray Ruben
Council: Michael Green, Jonah Nakimayak, Jason Reidford, Donna Ruben
Sachs Harbour
Mayor: Lloyd Acheson
Council (acclaimed): Wayne Gully, Donna Keogak, Paul Kowikchuk, Terry Davidson
Tuktoyaktuk
Council: Heavenly Elias, Billy Emaghok, Joe Nasogaluak, John Steen Jr., James Stevens
Tulita
Mayor: Gordon Yakeleya
Council: Rena Chapple, Sarah Horassi, Terry Kunkel, Lori Ann Lennie, Wilfred Lennie Sr., Edward MacCauley, Janet MacCauley, Douglas Yallee
Ulukhaktok
Mayor: Laverna Klengenberg
Council: Connie Alanak, Bradley Carpenter, Sadie Joss, Margaret Kanayok, David Kuptana, Sarah Kuptana, Mardon Martin, Mollie Oliktoak
