Business-minded Gillis is pro-development

DENISE RIDEOUT

Nancy Gillis was the first of the nine candidates running in the municipal byelection to enter her name in the race. She’s hoping her swift decision to run will give her an advantage over the other nine candidates who entered the election just hours before the call for nominations closed.

Her entry represented another first as well – her first stab at municipal politics.

The finance administration officer with the Baffin Business Development Centre is vying for one of the two vacant positions on Iqaluit city council.

Gillis is a longtime Iqaluit resident who lived in the city from 1980 to 1993. After spending six years in Prince Edward Island, Gillis, her husband and two children returned to Iqaluit in 1999, she said, because “this is my home.”

In her early years in Iqaluit, she ran a stationery store, worked for the Town of Iqaluit’s statistics department and was the executive director of the Baffin Chamber of Commerce.

Gillis is business-minded. She looks at city council’s approach to development and business and doesn’t like what she sees.

“I want to see this place develop, not stagnate,” Gillis said in an interview.

Actually, she was so disgusted by council’s recent rejections of major housing developments that it prompted her to enter her name in the race.

Gillis points to the apartment-office complex project that council nixed in June because it didn’t like the look, size or shape of the building. The proposal, put forth by Ninety North Construction, would have brought 48 more apartment units to Iqaluit.

“I look at all the housing needs and wonder why they did it,” Gillis said. “It’s a very sore point for me now. It’s important we keep Iqaluit as a capital. It’s important to develop it.”

Gillis thinks allowing more development is the way to go because it will bring the city much-needed revenue.

She said she’s also keen to focus on small businesses. “Because we don’t have affordable rental space for businesses, we are preventing them from starting up.”

The candidate said another priority for her is improving the city’s waste management. “There’s got to be an alternative to burning. If we properly recycle, there’d be no need for burning,” she said. The current recycling program needs to be beefed up and council should encourage more residents to participate, she suggests.

Gillis also wants to bring a sense of accountability to city council. “I want people to believe in what the council is saying,” she said.