ENTERPRISE
The council of the Hamlet of Enterprise has taken a definite turn towards youth.

Daniel Harley, left, and Eric Moses - both in their early 20s - were sworn in Jan. 5 as councillors for the Hamlet of Enterprise. For the first meeting of the year, new and returning councillors were identified by small signs on the table. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

On Jan. 5, two new councillors - both in their early 20s - were sworn in for two-year terms, and become the youngest members of council.

The new councillors are 22-year-old Daniel Harley and 23-year-old Eric Moses, who were both acclaimed to council on Dec. 8 during the annual elections in NWT hamlets.

Moses hopes to get younger people in the community more involved during his term.

"Give them an inside look at how things run around here, try to see what's going on around Enterprise, and try to get more people out to events," he said.

Moses was born in Fort Simpson but raised in Hay River, and has lived in Enterprise for about a year.

"I wanted to get more involved," he said of his decision to run for council. "I never really knew about Enterprise, the community. I just kept on driving by like everyone else. So I wanted to get more involved in it to see what's going on around here."

Currently, Moses works at Kal Tire in Hay River, about 38 km from Enterprise.

Harley, the other new councillor, has lived in Enterprise for 17 years.

"I grew up here my whole life pretty much," he said, adding his family moved to Enterprise when he was five years old. "It's home."

Harley said he ran for council to help make changes in the community.

"And get everyone together," he said. "Try to, anyway."

Encouragement from Coun. Chaal Cadieux was another factor in his decision to run for council, said Harley, who works at Enterprise Plumbing and Heating and is a volunteer firefighter.

Mayor John Leskiw II thinks it is good for council to have the two new young members.

"I think it will help change the direction of council and hopefully the community," he said. "We've never really been, in my opinion, as big on youth as we should be. We really haven't provided them with options and alternatives and so forth. We've been more directed towards middle-aged and senior people. So I'm hoping this will bring us back to the future of Enterprise, rather than the past of it."

Incumbent Coun. Jim Dives was also acclaimed to council and will be sworn in at a later date.

Leskiw had been hoping for more than three candidates for council in the December elections.

"I am a little disappointed that we didn't get more people running for politics," he said. "Politics is a very big issue in the Northwest Territories. Everybody wants solutions, but nobody wants to do anything about it."

Leskiw also wishes women were represented on the new council.

"I'd like to get an alternative viewpoint," he said. "Being guys, sometimes we see things a certain way and we don't consider other things. I'm relatively sure that some women on here, especially younger to middle-aged women with families, would give a different perspective."

Debra Richards had initially been a candidate for council, but withdrew from the December election after being hired as the hamlet's recreation/wellness leader.