Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jan 16/06) - Nunavut News/North asked the five federal candidates the following questions. Ed deVries of the Marijuana Party could not be reached before deadline.

1. What will you do to improve the housing situation?
2. What will you do to improve employment?
3. What would be your top three priorities you would bring to Ottawa if elected?

Bill Riddell

1. We have to take a look at the type of construction that's used. Are there cheaper ways? The second is to examine the public housing structure. We have to experiment with a variety of configurations of housing to reinforce the extended family. We also need to increase the number of housing units being built and take a look at the cost of maintenance.

2. There has to be a Northern hire policy where companies must hire a high portion not just Inuit but people who live in the North. We also need training programs for specific jobs. We should be starting now to train people to do the jobs like the technical jobs and the actual extraction of minerals. We shouldn't wait until these industries are developed.

The tourist industry potential in Nunavut is immense. We need to train Inuit and people who are from the North as hosts, bartenders and waiters.

We also need to develop the tourism industry for people who are from Nunavut. It's assumed that we all know everything when we travel from one community to another, but we could be our best tourist.

3. Poverty and food are immense problems that need to be resolved. We need to put food on people's tables and equalize prices to what people pay in the rest of Canada. We need to make sure that people are healthy, and to prevent diseases that are going to be costly to the system in the future.

To me sovereignty means that the people living here are happy and healthy, that they have a sense of well-being. Then on a more practical level, to develop and provide resources to the Rangers that are here rather than develop new military.

Devolution of the resources and the royalties of the resources must be pumped back into the territory. These are all more subtle goals, but they all fit into one basket.

Felix Kappi

1. We need to take action to build housing immediately. I come from a large family and have experienced overcrowded housing. The waiting lists are just too long. We can't wait for the five-year or 10-year plans to unfold because we are never going to catch up. It is a basic human right to be able to live comfortably, so this budget would come from Canada.

2. As far as fishing in Nunavut a Nunavut needs to own its own vessels. It is not making any money at all now, there are only four Inuit or so working in the industry. The vessels are foreign-owned by Greenland and they're the ones making the profits. We need to process the fish here, making it a Nunavut product. Also, building a highway from Manitoba to the Kivalliq will create jobs through the maintenance and construction. Also, because of the cold, the highway would need stopping posts and shelters throughout that would need to be maintained. And the equipment would have to be maintained. This highway would also decrease the costs of food and supplies. It is the federal government's responsibility to provide this highway.

3. We have to listen to Nunavut as well. We are so far away from southern Canada, we are forgotten. And we have so much to contribute to Canada both culturally and economically. I will be a voice for Nunavut.

Our situation with housing and TB needs to be addressed. This is all connected to the environment which is being threatened. So we have to let people in the south know what is going on a that this is part of Canada and the ice caps are melting, and that our way of life is being threatened. There will be a waterway through the Northwest Passage soon so displaying sovereignty is also important. These issues are so interconnected with the environment a like the price of fuel effecting housing a that you can't really single them out.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell

1. I have to go back to what we did before the government fell. I had Minister Fontana visit and see the housing. I physically brought him to those homes. I try to make my colleagues see the challenges we have. He was able to use what he picked up in the Kelowna discussions. I'm hoping against all hope that this (the Kelowna accord. is going through. For (Conservative. Monte Solberg to say that it was a quick deal made on the back of a napkin is an insult to the provinces, territories and aboriginal organizations. When asked for my priorities, my first answer is always housing.

2. One of our intentions has always been to tap into the knowledge people have. These are intelligent people. We need to connect to communities. There are so many people who can fix a Ski-Doo without formal training. I'm trying to set up a trades vocational institute. After the territory was formed we concentrated on administration and management. I think we neglected to train people for other things. We do have a problem with education.

3. It is hard to narrow down. Everything is intertwined. Not in any order, but the social agenda. We have to help people maximize their opportunities. I ask people why they didn't complete school and it boils down to problems in their personal life. We need healthy productive people participating in society. Infrastructure, to better serve the people of Nunavut. We have tremendous challenges that are unique. We can't fix things tomorrow, and we can't fix them ourselves. Bottom line, we have to do different things for aboriginal people in Canada. If we can't achieve the needs we have through federal programs we have another lens, which is the aboriginal agenda.

David Aglukark

1. I would do my best to use the organizations that are already established a the Government of Nunavut housing department and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. for example a and also my own understanding of the housing needs. If the Conservatives come in as the government I would use a proper minister for that department. I would sit down with him to let him know what it takes to improve the housing in Nunavut.

2. There are certain departments responsible for economic development in the government. I would sit down and discuss the issue with them. The economic development is less here than anywhere else in Canada. I would be working hard to sit down with the minister to discuss these issues.

The Nunavut government and NTI have been fighting hard with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. There has been far too much Nunavut quota being allocated elsewhere for too many years. I would team up with the Nunavut government and NTI to get the issue out more and show that it needs to be improved.

3. There is extreme poverty. There is a shortage of jobs that can bring income to people's homes. We are Canadians and we would like this country to be something we can be proud of. There should not be poverty anywhere in this country. Children should not be hungry and left cold. I would do my best to try to get it so this is looked into.

I would speak hard to let parliament know that Nunavut is unique. The high costs are hurting the public here, aboriginal and non-aboriginal alike. Something has to change and the parliament needs to have definite attention to this territory. The flights and shipping costs are hurting people here.

The cultural way of living is unique, beautiful and interesting. The way the men do the work outside for the survival of the family; and how the woman do the work and make the clothing from the wildlife. It's beautiful up here and it's important for the rest of Canada to understand that.