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NUNAVUT
Eleven people are vying to lead Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. for the next four years.

Nunavut News/North asked each presidential candidate why they're running, what they're hoping to achieve once elected and what they foresee will be their biggest obstacle in achieving their goals.

Nunavut News/North has not yet been able to reach Savikataaq Ford, Jerry Komaksiutiksak and Cathy Towtongie but will strive to in upcoming editions.

Beneficiaries aged 16 or older who are beneficiaries under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement will be eligible to vote in the advance poll on Dec. 3, or election day on Dec. 10.

Mikidjuk Akavak

The Inuit land claim organization should invest in all Nunavut communities, not just Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay, said candidate Mikidjuk Akavak.

"I believe Nunavut Tunngavik can do more for the HTOs (hunters and trappers organizations), not just in the international stage like they have been doing for the last three or four years trying to send a message," he said. "But the message from the communities I am getting is they're working with outdated office buildings."

Akavak is a 46-year-old hunter, certified journeyman electrician and former chief executive officer with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. He also served as the mayor of Kimmirut from 1997 to 2000. Born in Iqaluit and raised in Kimmirut, the married father of four also ran for NTI presidency in 2008 and 2010.

New ways of thinking, new ways of doing things, and new ideas to tackle the problems Nunavut's Inuit are facing within smaller communities will be the biggest obstacle, said Akavak.

"We have to get away from just issues such as polar bears, hunting, social handouts. If we're going to invest in international markets, we have to invest in our people," he said. "My focus is how can we best help invest in Nunavut communities that are struggling. Nunavut Tunngavik, with all their investments, have much better things to worry about than international bodies that are worried about our polar bear populations."

Larry Audlaluk

Larry Audlaluk said he wants to make a difference with the land claims agreement and have a better working relationship with everyone involved in it, notably federal government.

"The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is an instrument. If it's used fully, (it) is a very powerful instrument because it helped create Nunavut government," he said. "The issues in Nunavut are not heard enough throughout the rest of the country and the world."

Audlaluk's family was relocated to Grise Fiord from northern Quebec when he was two-and-a-half years old in 1953. He said he's been involved in his community, the co-op and he is a former justice of the peace. Audlaluk has been married 40 years and is the father to five children and grandfather to 10. He was involved in having the government recognize the faults and cruelty in its High Arctic relocation program.

"The hardship our family has endured has really made me become very vigilant and very questioning about our lives up in High Arctic," said Audlaluk.

The land claim organization's president cannot work in isolation; a good working relationship with the board of directors and beneficiaries is needed, he added. You can't please everyone, said Audlaluk, but you have to be fair to all.

"I hope to make a positive difference and to make the land claims agreement become more a spirited land claim," he said. "It needs to be even stronger than it is today. It is gaining momentum from the day we started but it has to keep going and to have better pride in our achievement back in 1993."

Paul Kaludjak

Paul Kaludjak, a former two-term NTI president, said the organization should focus more on the implementation of the land claims agreement, adding it seems to be left sitting idle. Kaludjak said his aim will be to restart the implementation process.

"It seems to be overlooked. Nobody is paying attention to it. We're supposed to be implementing the (land) claim. That's supposed to be our main mandate," he said. "We can still leverage the two governments we work with, the federal and Nunavut governments, to help us implement it."

Another issue he would like to examine is the political structure of NTI and its organizations. Kaludjak said some steps were already taken to restructure NTI, saving the organization millions, but it needs to finalized.

"You look at that and find out how we can spread the autonomy a little more. We have equal responsibility more or less - that it doesn't rely on one executive member so much. The authority should be leveled out," he said.

Kaludjak was dismissed two years ago from the NTI presidency for improperly using the corporate credit card after racking up nearly $52,000 in what NTI determined to be questionable charges.

While at NTI, said Kaludjak, he had directed the territorial government to teach the land claim agreement in schools so students could better understand what the agreement is all about and what everyone's role is. A lack of understanding of the agreement will likely represent the biggest obstacle to achieving his goals, he added.

"That would help open people's eyes, I suppose, and the governments would understand a little more what they're supposed to do," said Kaludjak. "And same with us Inuit, we would better understand our obligations as well to make sure steps were being taken to implement the claim."

He is married and has five children.

Vinnie Karetak

Vinnie Karetak would like the federal and territorial governments, as well as NTI, to work together to better the lives of Inuit.

The former CBC reporter said these governments and organizations are bickering while Nunavummiut are hurting. Karetak said he would like to see more suicide prevention and mental health programs and more counselling services available for the communities that need it.

Working towards improving the social health of all the communities is what he would like to see.

"I would like to see us be able to work together as a people," he said. "I think that's what the land claims agreement was originally for and somewhere along the line, it's not there. The more we are able to work together to help each other out, the better life will be. That's what I think."

Raised in Arviat, Karetak lived in Iqaluit for the past 11 years, working as a CBC reporter, with the federal government at Service Canada, with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and spending nearly two years with Canadian North. He said he supports the arts and volunteers with Northern Youth Abroad volunteer and the Iqaluit figure skating club. He has a 12-year-old son.

"I feel I could help Inuit of Nunavut in achieving what they originally set out to do with the Nunavut land claims agreement, which was having a better lifestyle for all Inuit," he said. "The biggest worry I have is the unwillingness of the governments to come together to see exactly how we can work together towards making life easier for Nunavut."

David Kunuk

Implementing the land claims agreement is a priority for David Kunuk, a director on leave, and former assistant director in the department of implementation at NTI.

He said he feels he can make things happen with the implementation of the agreement.

"For me, the land claim implementation, there is a lot to do and I think it can still benefit a lot of Inuit," said Kunuk. "Implementation is going to be my biggest priority."

Originally from Iqaluit, Kunuk spent five years in Iglulik as a child before the family moved back to Iqaluit. He spent four years with the Canadian Forces after completing high school, then in 1996, Kunuk moved to Ottawa and started working on the land claims with the Nunavut Planning Commission. He joined NTI 12 years ago, first as the assistant director in its department of implementation for three years before becoming the director. He is married and has two daughters and one son.

Kunuk said he wants to put an emphasis on Article 32, which deals with social development. He added it is not seen as a priority for the organization.

NTI's lawsuit against the federal government, alleging a number of breaches under the land claims agreement, might be an obstacle, he said.

"Obviously we have the lawsuit. That's going to be an impediment and it's going to be hard to address all issues," he said. "I know it's possible if there's a will from all parties."

Gabriel Nirlungayuk

Gabriel Nirlungayuk, on leave from his position as director of wildlife at NTI, said he's always been interested in politics and to lead.

He said government has promised to train and employ Inuit so they must provide funding. Nirlungayuk also wants to negotiate the next implementation contract and adequately fund hunters and trappers organizations.

"What I'm hoping to achieve is making education a priority amongst Inuit. Education is the key for Inuit to come out of poverty and health issues," he said. "If we're more educated, you get better jobs, then that eliminates some of the problems we are facing."

Born and raised in Kugaaruk, Nirlungayuk trained as a weather man and worked in the Kitikmeot region. He is also a community health representative and manager of Nunavut Hunter Support Program. Nirlungayuk has been the director of wildlife at NTI for the past decade. But the federal government has to live up to their promises, which he described as a big obstacle.

"The biggest obstacle, for the next president, whether it be me or others, is to have a vision - how do we get out of the rut our society (is in) as a whole," he said. "So to not have any vision, I think that will be an obstacle and to convince the federal government they need to really look at properly implementing the land claims agreement. The feds have to play ball."

He is the father of three grown children and grandfather to three.

Bernadette Niviatsiak

Bernadette Niviatsiak said she wants to focus on the land claims' Article 32, dealing with social development, providing adequate housing, resources for education programs and infrastructure.

She said her children are now grown and she has the time to commit to being NTI president.

"In the next four years, I want to be able to be a voice, lobby hard and negotiate by supporting the Government of Nunavut as well on their devolution efforts," said Niviatsiak. "I believe growth needs have to be controlled by its grassroots people."

She added she also believes the Inuit are just as capable as any others in the south to address their own growth challenges and respond to them.

Raised in Chesterfield Inlet, Niviatsiak worked in the private sector managing her own business specializing in traditional garment and fur. She graduated from university with a bachelor's degree in political science and also worked for the territorial governments of both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Niviatsiak is the mother of four children and grandmother to 10.

Timelines are always an obstacle in achieving goals as are getting all the right people together, she said.

"To try and get everybody together ... by collecting the brightest and the best and coming up with the most fail-proof plan to implement benefits and services through programs and services to Inuit of Nunavut," said Niviatsiak.

Manitok Thompson

Former MLA Manitok Thompson said it's time for her to get back into politics, a realm she left eight years ago for personal reasons.

Now ready to make a commitment, she said she has gone before the federal ministers and top bureaucrats to fight for Inuit and she can do it again.

"We are in a crisis situation with food cost, with social issues not being attended to. I feel we are in a crisis situation as a beneficiary in Nunavut right now," said Thompson. "I am up for the job. It's time for me to get back into politics."

Married and mother to two adult sons, Thompson is a former member of both the Nunavut legislative assembly and the Northwest Territories legislative assembly. She graduated from the Teacher Education Program in 1977 and taught Inuktitut at the high school level in Rankin Inlet and Yellowknife.

Thompson said she wants to ensure both governments respect beneficiaries and the land claim agreement as it's a very important document. She added she feels it's been forgotten.

"A lot of the beneficiaries, myself included, have begun to think Article 32, which is about social issues, education, health, has been put in the back burner and the polar bears have taken over the territory on every agenda," said Thompson.

The biggest obstacle will be the governing system the organization has adopted two years ago, she said. She said when the territory was formed, the land claims agreement was a very important document in Nunavut.

"In the governing system, the politician does not have accountability. It's the CEO. The two vice-presidents no longer sit with the executive and one of the biggest obstacles in the Nunavut territory is the agreement seems to be less priority because of the turnover of bureaucracy," said Thompson. "As time goes by, with the turnover of bureaucracy, it's (land claim agreement) just another telephone book in a lot of cases."

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