CamBay elects four councillors, settles arena name issue

Voters in Cambridge Bay elected four hamlet councillors and voted in favour of giving their arena a new name, in municipal ballots held Dec. 10.

In a plebiscite, a majority of voters opted to change the name of the Cambridge Bay arena to “Ookpik Youth Community Arena.”

That name-change is in response to a request from Dave and Mona Taylor of Cambridge Bay.

They’re the parents of a 15-year-old boy, Nathan Ookpik Taylor, who died Sept. 13, 2011, when his dirt-bike hit a pickup truck near the community’s airport.

On the ballot question, 281 voters said yes to the idea and 95 said no.

Four candidates won seats on hamlet council:

Derrick Anderson 284

Shane Sather 281

Paul Panegyuk 268

Mary Rose Maksagak 256

Candidates Jessie Lyall and Shawn Marriott were not elected.

In another municipal decision, the council and hamlet of Cambridge Bay announced a ban on the import of alcohol into the community from Dec. 20, 2012 to Jan. 2, 2012.

Also in the Kitkmeot region, Bob Aknavigak was elected vice president of finance at the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, defeating candidates Robert Lyall, Makabe Nartok, and Paul Ikualak.