Clarence Wood has announced he is seeking a second term as the mayor of Inuvik ahead of the municipal election on October 21.
Improving infrastructure and community safety while lobbying for Ottawa to invest in the town are among his priorities.
“I’ve loved how far Inuvik has come in the last three years,” Wood told Cabin Radio on Thursday. “I’ve been involved in a lot of lobbying work, in particular with the federal government. I want to continue that work and attract more interest in Inuvik.”
Prospective candidates are in the process of submitting nominations for mayor and council in four other NWT communities – Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson. Nine hamlets will hold elections in December.
Wood has worked as a town councillor for almost 26 years. In the 2021 election he ran unopposed, replacing Natasha Kulikowski, who became the deputy mayor. Whether he will have a contender this year is so far unclear.
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Wood believes an “unprecedented” increase in land sales last year “shows that people want to be a part of our community, and we’re growing stronger every day.” Moreover, he thanks the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation for investing in the town “like they never have before.”
“The town, in conjunction with that, has committed almost $9 million for upgrading our utilidor system so we can be ready for expansion,” he said. “We have a $5-million solar farm just starting construction, which will power the recreation complex.”
Other projects under way, he said, include a remote sensing centre that he believes will make Inuvik “a hub for innovation in the Arctic.”
Wood said newer lots expected in Inuvik will “go a long way” toward resolving the community’s housing challenges.
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“We’re reconstructing some of the roads around town to make them safer for kids – in particular the ones around the school. We’re committed to building a better community. We’ve got a new hotel going in, a new office tower, another apartment complex, and one of the existing hotels is going to be converted into apartment suites,” he said.
“There’s also a tiny village in the planning stages. With all this happening in the town, I really would like to continue what I’ve been doing, because I think some of it, in any event, has been because of the lobbying efforts I’ve made. I want to see these through to completion. Also, I love my job.”
Wood said he would also like to see a permanent military base installed in Inuvik again. One was closed in the 1980s, but the federal government has suggested significant new investment in Inuvik may be on the way.
Asked what he is most proud of after three years as mayor, Wood said: “The people of the town.”
“We have such a mixed community. We have Inuvialuit, we have Gwich’in, and amongst the others, we have a large Muslim population with a mosque – I think is the northernmost in Canada. We have a very large Filipino population and quite a number of African people who have moved here,” he said. “And, like me, they love the town.”
