Nihtat elect new council
New faces on board after delays as a result of few nominees
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 17, 2015
INUVIK
After several weeks of delays, Nihtat Gwich'in Council members have voted in a new board.
Nicolinea Minakis casts her ballot at the Nihtat Gwich'in Council office Sept. 9. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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Amy Amos, Lawrence Neyando, Vernon Smith, Heather Moses, Barry Greenland, Eliza Firth, Richard Ross Jr. and Sallie Ross will form the new council under returning acclaimed president Jozef Carnogursky.
"It's always good to be acclaimed," Carnogursky said. "But it's good to have an election too. We have a fully elected board that going to set the direction."
Among the five new members of the board, there are a number of young faces.
Chief returning officer Edward Wright said that after several extensions of the nomination period, a number of younger community members stepped forward to submit their names.
Heather Moses is one of the new faces on the board but said she is looking forward to learning all about it.
"I believe I'm fairly young to be on this board but I also think that's what the board will need," she said. "I have yet to fully understand the position but I'm honoured that I was given the amount of votes that I received and will do my best for my people."
Carnogursky, for his part, said he is very much looking forward to working with the new board, especially the young people.
"It's really good to see," he said. "They're also well split between men and women, hopefully that's something that we'll see in other boards as well."
If anything marred the election, Carnogursky said it was the low voter turnout. Out of 350 possible ballots, only 102 were cast, with two spoiled and one rejected.
"I wish voter turnout were a little higher," Carnogursky said. "But we're going to continue to protect rights and interest of our people, and to provide more programs and services to improve the day-to-day lives of or people."
He also said that increasing economic development would continue to be high on the list of priorities for the coming term, along with a new building, and ongoing self-government negotiations.
"We also want to continue to build strong relationships with other groups in the community, like the Inuvialuit, the Town of Inuvik, and others," he said. "Anything that will make things better for our people."
