Water back on Wednesdays: Iqaluit council votes to resume water delivery

Water is back on Wednesdays in Iqaluit.

In a surprise vote Tuesday night, Iqaluit city council suspended the practice of no trucked water delivery on Wednesdaysuntil it learns more about how much the mid-week stoppage is saving the city.

Iqaluit had stopped delivering trucked water during the middle of the week since summer 2015.

"If people are going to have unduehardship, blizzards a couple times a week, no water, uncertainty ... show us the numbers, show us some concrete evidence that the city is saving money,"said Councillor Terry Dobbin.

"Where's the savings?" he asked the city's director of engineering and sustainability.

"I don't have those numbers here. This was a surprise to me getting this on the agenda," replied Matthew Hamp.

"My suggestion to council is put everything you want on an agenda for a committee of the whole meeting, set the time and I'll be there and give you the information," Hamp said.

That's what Councillor Joanasie Akumalik did.

At the beginning of the meeting Tuesday, Councillor Joanasie Akumalikrequested toadd the water delivery issueto the agenda.

"I don't want some detailed discussions, all I want to know is if we can move this thing forward, get information and deal with it. That's all I want," Akumalik said.

He brought forward a motion to direct city staff to bring information on savingsto a committee of the whole meeting the week of May 9.

'It's a basic human right'

The motion passed, and then Dobbin took it a step further.

"I would like to suspend waterless Wednesdays altogether immediately until the CAO can provide concrete evidence that the City of Iqaluit is actually saving money," Dobbin said.

Both the city's chief administrative officer,Muhamud Hassan, and the city's mayor, Madeleine Redfern, were not present at the meeting.Redfern is away on vacation.

Councillors voted on Dobbin's motion and it passed, immediately resuming water delivery on Wednesdays, for the time being.

"It's a matter of health, it's a matter of sanitation. It's a basic human right," Dobbin said.