Iqaluit mayor and city councillor resign

Outgoing Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik discusses her resignation with reporters on Nov. 10. (PHOTO BY GABRIEL ZARATE)

Iqaluit Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik shocked everyone at the Nov. 9 meeting of Iqaluit City Council with an announcement that she will resign as of Dec. 13.

Sheutiapik didn’t go into specifics, but said “when you make a significant decision like this, it’s not only one reason.”

She stressed that the decision was not made lightly, and said she consulted her husband Byran Twerdin and Iqaluit chief administrator John Hussey beforehand.

As for the rest of the city’s staff, they were caught off guard.

The light agenda of the Nov. 9 council meeting had one staffer thinking they’d be out after only an hour. But meeting went much longer than that in the wake of Sheutiapik’s bombshell announcement.

Sheutiapik gave a press conference Nov. 10 to discuss her resignation, where she also announced the resignation from city council of Coun. Natsiq Alainga-Kango.

Sheutiapik said Alainga-Kango submitted her resignation earlier that day [Nov. 10] in order to run for president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc..

Alainga-Kango told Nunatsiaq News she feels she would not be able to perform her duties as an Iqaluit councillor given the month of campaigning ahead of her as she seeks NTI’s top job.

“I feel that it’s only fair for me to have stepped down,” she said, acknowledging that she could have taken a leave of absence from the city rather resigning.

Asked if a run for mayor was a possibility, she said, “It’s not in my mind at all.”

Since the Oct. 2009 election that put Alainga-Kango on council, she has been the most frequently absent councillor to their meetings.

An email received Nov. 10 by Nunatsiaq News suggests that council pressured Alainga-Kango into resigning over attendance issues.

“I would like to thank the council members in directing me to resign in accordance to by-law,” her email reads.

Sheutiapik said she timed her resignation to coincide with upcoming Dec. 13 byelections to fill vacant spots on the Iqaluit District Education Authority, so that by-election can take place at the same time and with much the same staff as the IDEA election.

Iqaluit returning officer Kirt Ejesiak said nominations for the vacant mayor and councillor positions open Nov. 10 and close Nov. 23.

An advance poll will be held Nov. 29.

Candidates must be Canadian citizens at least 18 years of age, have lived in the city of Iqaluit for at least a year, and have with no debts to the city of over $500 which are more than 90 days past due, Ejesiak explained.

Such municipal debts could include unpaid water bills, property taxes or by-law fines.

In looking back at her eight years as mayor, Sheutiapik said the accomplishments of which she was most proud were the decision to develop the new Plateau subdivision with energy and water-efficient systems, and her spearheading of the nation-wide Angel Street project to honour female victims of violence.

And as for the future, “certainly at this point, on Dec. 13, I can go to a hockey game and not worry about perception.”