New Iqaluit city council works the kinks out

Coun. David Ell smiles after being elected Iqaluit’s new deputy mayor Nov. 10. The city’s new council met for the first time this past week. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

David Ell is Iqaluit’s new deputy mayor.

City councillors, meeting for the first time since last month’s civic elections, selected Ell over Coun. Simon Nattaq, a former deputy mayor, in a secret ballot vote Nov. 10.

Ell will serve a one-year term as deputy. Nattaq will serve as an alternate deputy mayor.

Also, Coun. Natsiq Alainga-Kango was sworn in before the start of Tuesday’s meeting, because she couldn’t make a ceremony held last week at the Nunavut Court of Justice.

Council’s first meeting came before an orientation session, to help new councillors get the hang of things, scheduled for Nov. 16 and 17.

It was a bit of a rough start for the new council, which features six new faces. Alainga-Kango complained that no one told her there was a meeting until 3 p.m. that afternoon, while Coun. Mary Akpalialuk was late because she thought council meetings began at 7 p.m.

And an awkward moment occurred while councillors discussed a routine motion needed for the city to receive a small block funding grant.

The proposal, explained to council by chief administrative officer John Hussey, appeared to confuse Nattaq, who asked “what kind of black people are we talking about? Overseas black people?”

The motion, which allows the city to collect $10,000 from the Department of Community and Government Services, eventually passed unanimously.