Iqaluit mayor’s job to stay part-time

Iqaluit’s mayor, Elisapee Sheutiapik, won’t be getting a raise.

A proposal to turn the mayor’s job from a half-time to full-time position and increase the mayor’s salary was rejected by city councillors during a council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 13.

“I guess you don’t want discussion on this? Do we have a seconder?” asked Sheutiapik at the meeting, when the proposed new indemnity bylaw came up on the agenda for first reading.

The only response Sheutiapik received was about half a minute of awkward silence. Without a seconder, the motion died.

“I guess this bylaw is defeated,” Sheutiapik said.

The new indemnity bylaw would have increased Sheutiapik’s salary from $70,000 to $40,000 and made her job full-time. It also would have increased the deputy mayor’s salary to $9,000 from $8,000, and the salaries of councillors to $7,000 from $6,000.

John Hussey, the acting CAO, noted Sheutiapik was the only contender for the mayor’s seat during the last municipal election, during the fall.

He said the chief electoral officer received several comments suggesting that the position did not pay enough to lure many able candidates.

Right now, the half-time pay effectively restricts the mayorship to the owners of small businesses, who are able to support themselves with another source of income, such as Sheutiapik, who owns the Grind and Brew Cafe.