Iqaluit councillors push back decision on filling vacant council seat
Mayor adds item to agenda at last minute; colleagues direct administration to create policy
Iqaluit city council has directed staff draft a policy for how to proceed with filling vacant council spots. Currently, one seat on the eight-member council is vacant after Jack Anawak resigned on Nov. 6. (File photo)
People in Iqaluit will have to wait a little longer to see who will fill the vacant seat on city council.
Councillors asked city staff to develop a policy for appointing members to fill vacant council spots during their council meeting Tuesday night.
One seat on the eight-member council opened up after Jack Anawak resigned on Nov. 6, days after he was charged with impaired driving. The incident occurred days after he was sworn into his seat.
According to the Nunavut Elections Act, council can choose to appoint a non-winning candidate from the last election or hold a public call-out for applicants.
The runner-up in the Oct. 23 election was Lewis Falkiner MacKay, who received 525 votes compared to Anawak’s 635.
The topic of how to appoint a new councillor was not initially on council’s agenda, but at the start of the meeting, Mayor Solomon Awa said it would be included.
That didn’t make his colleagues happy, as councillors Romeyn Stevenson and Kyle Sheppard both expressed they were not prepared to discuss the vacancy.
Stevenson put toward a motion, which was approved by council, directing city staff to draft a policy outlining how to proceed with all vacancy situations in the future.
“So that we can have something to discuss and debate, rather than just have an open floor,” Stevenson said.
Sheppard agreed that a policy is needed.
“I was not prepared to discuss this tonight as it was not on the agenda and I would like a bit more time to prepare before making that final decision,” he said.
Sheppard added that a policy should have been crafted during the last term of council.
“We’ve dealt with this so many times and realistically over the next four years we’re going to deal with it again,” he said.
On the last council that was elected in 2019, five members – former mayor Kenny Bell and councillors Joanasie Akumalik, Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, Sheila Flaherty and Malaiya Lucassie — did not complete their terms.
Another member, John Fawcett who was named to council mid-term to replace another councillor, also left before the end of the term.
Falkiner MacKay, who attended Tuesday’s city council meeting, told Nunatsiaq News he looks forward to council making “a clear and transparent decision.”
He pointed out its legal obligation is to decide as soon as possible.
“It’s been five weeks since the election, we’ve had two council meetings now,” Falkiner MacKay said. “I think it’s time to get to work.”
The only democratic and sensible option here is to fill the vacancy with Mr McKay who received the most votes among the remaining candidates. The got the most votes. That’s democracy as I understand the concept. For those who support having counsel appoint on its own, I might be able to agree if the vacancy occurred many months or a year or two after the election. But, my goodness, that’s not what happened here. Anawak resigned a mere couple of weeks after the election. Counsel hasn’t even started to conduct business before his resignation. As a result, we have a recent democratic expression of voters where I sizeable number voted for Mr McKay. Almost as many as who voted for Anawak. Let’s be democratic and follow the recent election results!! It’s not only fair but it’s common sense!!
The most obvious choice seems to be to go with the runner up, as the election was so recent. Any other choice they make will be someone who got less votes, or someone who didn’t run at all.
Really seems like the people in charge just don’t want Mr Mckay.
Wonder if they have a buddy waiting in the wings for a council seat.
Sure seemed like that’s what happened during the previous term. Hopefully some lessons were learned. I also say MacKay is the logical choice. Some of the good old boys may not like questions being asked and I suspect that he may be someone who asks questions, like the runners up in the previous election, and as our representatives should… but that may be threatening to some big egos who have been on council for a while…. my two cents…
I agree with Lewis – I am sure these fine councillors have thought about it a lot since Jack’s resignation and given their experiences with departing Council members from the last term. They’ve had two meetings . What is there to debate? The Nunavut Elections Act is clear – why would they choose someone that was not runner up to the 8th placed candidate? What additional value would this suggested policy add?
We lost an Inuk councilor, they should be replaced by an Inuk councilor. All the inuit who ran for council got elected, and by a larger margin then Mr McKay. There for thru the democratic process people wanted to see Inuit on council. Council should replace Jack with an Inuk so this stays the same.
Though I am sure you don’t believe or accept this, Nunavut is not an ethno-state and there are no race quotas built into our political systems.
Loosing a Inuk councilor.. Is there a law in Nunavut. That no matter what the out come of any election. Or for any reason a elected Inuk, vacates there elected position. Then the replacement must be a Inuk. I always thought that democracies. Allowed any race,creed, colour or gender. Who chose to run for office and were fairly elected. Could take part in the governance of that institution to which they were elected.
If the people of Nunavut do not want be part of a democratic system. Like the rest of Canada. Then leave the confederation.
Is it a coincidence that all the councillors who quit last term were Inuit? Joanasie Akumalik, Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, Sheila Flaherty and Malaiya Lucassie.
Why ignore Bell and Fawcett? This isn’t about race, it is about democracy.
Bell was not a Councillor.
Its not a coincidence
Janet Brewster ran for MLA and resigned on being elected, Malaiya Lucassie resigned because of comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, Joanasie Akumalik resigned for undisclosed reasons after being charged with aggravated assault (charges were later dropped), and Sheila Flaherty resigned to commit more time to her own business and other projects.
By comparison, Kenny Bell resigned because of various debacles, and John Fawcett resigned as he was leaving Iqaluit for family reasons.
You see an Inuit. I see a Canadian. One Canadian who ran for council left and should be replaced with another Canadian.
I can see it from this perspective, but also, I think there needs some diversification in age going on. If they’re going the route of choosing another Inuk, then find someone young with a fresh perspective. Don’t add another older man. That perspective is tired and isn’t serving us anymore. Sorry not sorry.
Name a more iconic duo than Nunavut and reinventing wheels.
There are eight positions, more than eight people received votes. What’s the friggin problem here? Why do we need to discuss and debate to find some novel method to deal with an issue like this?
Next viable candidate, by-elections, petitions. Democracy is very old; go ask someone who has already figured this out and stop wasting our time.
Shepard… you didnt know it was coming… well that is a poor look for you. Are you even paying attention to what is happening in Iqaluit… I am think you probably are but common that is a foolish response.
also then why was it not on the agenda… who dropped that ball?
I agree with Stevenson and Sheppard’s frustration about last-minute additions to agendas. It’s not fair to those on council to discuss items for which they did not have a chance to prepare.
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I do not agree with a motion to direct city staff to draft a policy outlining how to proceed with all vacancy situations while there is currently a vacancy. Council needs to own up to their current responsibility and fill this vacancy, and then if it wishes for staff to draft said policy, go ahead.
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I agree with MacKay’s assertion that the legal obligation is to fill the vacancy as soon as possible.
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As mentioned already, this vacancy occurred so shortly after the election, that they should appoint MacKay to this seat. He is a long-term resident of Iqaluit with sound mind and legitimacy who and there’s no reason to waste time quibbling about it.
Council members might want to read the story (still on the NN website) about how municipal leaders should … well, lead. Staff develop a policy? Show some leadership and decide between the obvious choice, the runner-up and someone who wasn’t even interested in running.
I’m surprised this cowardly abnegation of responsibility isn’t receiving more attention.
Of course Sheppard doesn’t want to fill the seat quickly – the fewer members on council, the easier it is for him to push through policies that benefit the taxi companies and harm Iqalummiut.
I get the need to follow procedures re municipal meetings, agendas etc, but I would also say that we all have known, and so have councillors, including this one, that this was going to come very soon on the agenda. Delay tactic to be able to say “ooh, it has been so very long since the election, we can’t possibly pick the next highest ranking candidate”? Delay tactic to include someone special on the list? May this is cynical and unfair. Is it?
Oh the irony that Lewis has to wait for a policy to be developed..
Laffing stock stuff in Iqaluit’s municipal government, just like the M.L.A.s at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.
The puffed up grandstanding makes me cringe. They act like they aren’t just municipal councilors for a very small city.
Continual delay in dealing with this seems like a tactic on the part of council to avoid putting MacKay in. The vacancy happened TWO WEEKS after an election that anybody could have run in, where MacKay had more than 500 people voting for him. By the time council approves a policy, I’m sure it will be “we need to go to public call out, so we in our wisdom can select a better candidate than the one who put their name forward and was supported by the public”.
A tactic, or merely incompetence? Admittedly, it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes.
“Well, I wouldn’t call civil service delays ‘tactics’, Minister. That would be to mistake lethargy for strategy.” Sir Humphrey Appleby
Do not attribute to malice that which can be sufficiently explained by incompetence.
Appoint the next runner up if we are within two years of the last election, and they got at least half as many votes as first place in the last election.
Otherwise hold a public call out. Have each candidate publicly scored on their level of support from the community, by each councilor. Appoint the candidate with the highest score.
Why within two years?
*shrug* it is half of council’s four year term. Still feels fairly current. The time period could be shorter or longer.