Umar Kukkadi is the new mayor of Pangnirtung. He was elected in a March 30 byelection, defeating Cathy MacDougall in a two-candidate race. Kukkadi, a regional finance manager with Nunavut’s Department of Health, previously served as a hamlet councillor. (Photo courtesy of Umar Kukkadi)
Umar Kukkadi elected mayor of Pangnirtung in byelection
Turnout reported at nearly 32 per cent
Umar Kukkadi is the new mayor of Pangnirtung, following a byelection Monday in the hamlet.
Kukkadi received 196 votes, defeating his sole opponent Cathy MacDougall, who received 35 votes, according to an update posted late Monday night on the Elections Nunavut Facebook page.
A total of 231 votes were cast, with eight rejected, representing a voter turnout of 31.78 per cent in the community of about 1,500 people.
The byelection was called after former mayor Lynn Mike resigned in December.
Kukkadi, a regional finance manager with Nunavut’s Department of Health, has lived in Pangnirtung since 2010 with his wife and two children.
He previously served as a hamlet councillor from 2019 to 2021 and sat on the community’s finance committee.
We are seeing longtime residents, originally from places other than the community, take on political roles in Nunavut’s larger hamlets. That includes Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit, Kugluktuk in recent years. This is good. It brings broader values and expertise to the table and to society.
Kukkadi and his family have been in Pangnitung since 2010. He and his wife have meaningful employment and the whole family has significant social immersion in the community. In all respects, they are ‘from Pangnirtung’.
32 % , wow !!!! , got to dole out them vouchers , to get people off the couch.
Make Pangnirtung great again