NAM back on track, says new interim president

"We’re not totally derailed"

Nunavut Association of Municipalities’ interim president, Whale Cove Mayor Percy Kabloona, said the organization’s priority for 2012 is to work with closely with the Government of Nunavut to secure infrastructure funding for its communities. (FILE PHOTO)

A special meeting of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities has helped rally support for an organization that lost its way, say its members.

NAM’s board of directors came together for a special meeting in Iqaluit Dec. 6 to re-group, review bylaws and chart a course for 2012.

“We’re trying to get back on track,” Percy Kabloona, NAM’s interim president, said in a telephone interview. “But we’re not totally derailed. Now we’re on track to be a strong, more committed organization, better able to serve Nunavut’s communities.”

Kabloona claims that process was most recently side-tracked under the presidency of Sakiasie Sowdlooapik, who resigned as NAM’s president only days before the special meeting was to be held.

In Sowdlooapik’s resignation letter, the Pangnirtung mayor accused the Government of Nunavut of interfering with NAM’s business.

But Kabloona alleges Sowdlooapik made moves without the consent of the board, including communications with the Nunavut premier and her ministers, which rendered many of the organization’s meetings null and void.

And Kabloona said he’s seen NAM and the GN work well together — at least since the Whale Cove mayor first got involved with NAM in 2008.

Now the organization plans to meet with GN in January to discuss how it will negotiate a long-term in plan on how the federal government can assist with infrastructure development across Nunavut.

Nunavut mayors are optimistic that a new federal plan, which promises to identify needs and replace soon-to-expire programs, will stop a decline in finding to Nunavut’s municipal infrastructure.

“It’s important for the GN to be on the same page [as us],” Kabloona said.

Ottawa needs to recognize the unique infrastructure needs across the territory so Nunavut can have “what the rest of Canada takes for granted,” he added.

Another part of NAM’s rebuilding process will be finding a new permanent executive director, something Kabloona says the organization has lacked since 2008.

In 2010, when former Iqaluit mayor Elisapie Sheutiapik sat as NAM president, Kabloona said Sheutiapik appointed a consultant named Shani Guerin to assist at the organization’s meetings until they could find a permanent executive director.

Guerin stayed on as an interim executive director. Guerin resigned as executive director this past Dec. 6.

Kabloona hopes to begin scouting for new candidates for the job in January.

In the meantime, Kabloona said he is grateful for the expertise of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, who has stepped in to help the organization with its administration until new staff are in place.

Although NAM filled its board of directors Dec. 6, the organization will have to elect a new permanent president at its next meeting, which will likely be held in May or June of 2012.

A number of its directors lost their voting rights Dec. 12 when they weren’t re-elected as mayors in Nunavut’s municipal elections, meaning new mayors will have to present themselves for positions on the board.

In the meantime, Kabloona has the authority to appoint regional directors, who have voting rights.