Dana Fergusson is looking forward to her first term as the mayor of Fort Smith.

The operations manager of the local Pelican Rapids Inn was elected mayor on Oct. 21, beating incumbent Fred Daniels 441 votes to 301.

SA国际影视传媒淚'm very excited,SA国际影视传媒� Fergusson said two days after her win. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 looking forward to the challenges the next three years will bring. There's been a lot of great work in our community with collaborating with leadership and I'm looking forward to continuing those collaborations. We have voted-in almost an entirely new council and I look forward to getting to know all of these folks and work with them."

For Fergusson, who previously served on Fort SmithSA国际影视传媒檚 town council, taking the job of mayor was a logical next step after years of volunteering. She encourages residents to let her know about any concerns they have.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 passionate about serving our community, and I love Fort Smith,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭his is just a natural next step for me... serving my community and giving back on this larger scale. I'm here to serve my community to the best of my ability and I look forward to it. I know that my door is always open and I encourage people to come and talk to me. I want to hear what's going on and I want to be told if there's something I'm missing.SA国际影视传媒�

Several hundred kilometres to the west, in Fort Simpson, Les Wright is feeling similarly excited at the outset of his first term as mayor.

Like Fergusson, Wright beat out the incumbent in his community, defeating four-term mayor Sean Whelly 239 votes to 142.

SA国际影视传媒淚 am very excited with the outcome of the election and to have the opportunity to help the community,SA国际影视传媒� Wright said after his win. SA国际影视传媒淚 also feel that this is a great opportunity for the community to start working together and for the whole community to benefit. 

SA国际影视传媒淚 would like to thank everyone that came out to vote. That was the biggest turnout for a municipal election that I can remember.SA国际影视传媒�

Five NWT communities held elections on Oct. 21. Inuvik, Hay River and Norman Wells were the others.

Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson ran unopposed. In Norman Wells, longtime Mayor Frank Pope was re-elected at the expense of Paulie Chinna, his only opponent. Inuvik elected a new mayor SA国际影视传媒� but a familiar face SA国际影视传媒� in Peter Clarkson.

Clarkson served as Inuvik's mayor before, in the early 2000s. After beating incumbent Clarence Wood by 512 votes to 222, Clarkson is returning to the job following an 18-year hiatus. 

"It's a little surreal being back into it, but I was driving the roads, I was using the rec complexes, I was paying municipal taxes, so I wasn't that far removed from a lot of things," he said. 

Clarkson said he decided to run for mayor again because he saw that Inuvik needed "strong leadership" and he "didn't see that happening."

He has some big goals for his political return, including the establishment of a leadership council. 

"I'd like to establish a leadership council in Inuvik so that all of the Indigenous groups, the municipal government, the MLAs, the territorial government can work together on some of the community priorities and assist each other to move things forward just by having better communication and working relationships," he said. 

Pope and Jameson couldn't be reached for comment prior to publication deadline.