New councillor takes oath

Theresa Rodrigue, an Iqaluit resident who fell just short of winning a council seat in the October, 2003 municipal election, took her oath of office this past Tuesday after city council appointed her to fill the seat vacated by the recent passing of Goola Nakasuk.

Under territorial laws, council may choose to fill vacated council seats by either holding a by-election, appointing a new councillor, or letting the seat lie vacant until the next election.

As they have done in the past, council opted to appoint the candidate who won the greatest number of votes in the most recent council election, but not enough to win a seat.

So they offered a seat to Robert Billard, who ranked just below the last elected candidate with 575 votes, but Billard declined.

Rodrigue had finished just behind Billard with 491 votes.