Iqaluit’s Jimmy Kilabuk resigns from city council

Long-time Iqaluit city councillor Jimmy Kilabuk announced his resignation April 9.

Long-time Iqaluit city councillor Jimmy Kilabuk announced his resignation from council by teleconference at a regular meeting on April 9.

Kilabuk, 71, had not attended any council meetings since his re-election on Oct. 15, 2012, due to ill health.

He made the announcement in a statement, a part of the agenda in which councillors normally communicate items of concern to the council.

“I am not getting any better at all and I want to submit my resignation as a councillor,” Kilabuk told council through an interpreter, with all members in attendance. “I regret that I have to give my resignation. I would like to thank all those who have elected me and those who have not.

“I would like to give a big thank-you to everyone I have worked with. I feel I have no more strength to go on.”

Kilabuk could not attend his first council meeting after the last election due to an undisclosed illness, and then asked for a leave of absence, according to city administration.

The former firefighter and prison guard was on his third consecutive mandate as councillor. He served as mayor from 1997 to 2000, and as councillor and deputy mayor in previous terms in the 1990s.

First-term council members said they regretted not having a chance to work with Kilabuk who had years of experience as a councillor and mayor.

“We’re going to miss his experience,” said Coun. Mark Morrissey.

Coun. Kenny Bell, also on his first mandate, agreed. “I was hoping to have a chance to sit with him,” he said.

“We’re very saddened by the news that councillor Kilabuk tendered his resignation under his member’s statement this evening,” Mayor John Graham said after the meeting.

“We really truly appreciate all his many, many years of service to this community. When I first came to Iqaluit back in 1976, Jimmy, or ‘Flash’ as I knew him, was a member of the Iqaluit volunteer fire department as it was back in those days.”

Graham recalled Kilabuk as elected official for the village council, then town council, of what used to be called Frobisher Bay, then eventually as mayor of the City of Iqaluit when it emerged as the capital of newly-formed Nunavut.

“I looked forward to having Jimmy in our chambers,” said Graham. “Our thoughts and prayers are now with him and his family.”