Arviat MLA addresses issues
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Arviat (Feb 07/01) - Let's think of the Nunavut legislative assembly like a hockey game.
The players? The cabinet ministers versus the regular members.
The game gets more than a little rough at times -- what with all those flying elbows, slapshots and body checks being thrown around -- so a referee is about as crucial to the game as the puck.
 Kevin O'Brien |
But he must remain impartial, and O'Brien is not permitted to debate issues. That also means the once fiery MLA isn't able to raise his constituents' concern in the House.
What exactly does that mean for the fine folks in Arviat who voted for O'Brien?
"A convention has been in place for hundreds of years where it's understood the Speaker will deal with the premier and the ministers directly," said O'Brien, currently in his second term of office as the community's territorial representative.
He said it was as simple as calling up the cabinet minister with the solution to whatever the concern or issue might be and arranging a time to discuss the matter. While he said he missed the excitement of jumping into the middle of a heated debate, O'Brien said he'd learned how effective this method was.
"I didn't make a habit of carrying my tongue in my pocket. I always said what I wanted to say and raised the issues," said O'Brien.
"But it can be done just as easily through calm, collected conversation in the privacy of a minister's office. I find it more effective because I have easier access to them, without the jumping up and down in the House. The House sometimes is a bit of a theatre. But, that's politics."
O'Brien has not, however, actually had the time to gauge whether or not this system goes the distance. In the Speaker's chair for less than year, he said he'd know its effectiveness first-hand after the budget was released Feb. 21.
"There are some things I've accomplished. I can't say what they are right now...not before the budget...we'll know the big issues once the budget period is over," he said.
O'Brien also said he thought he was doing a good job of representing his constituents in the legislature.
Levi Angmak school principal Marvin McKay-Keenan agreed with that assessment. He said given the extra responsibilities O'Brien took on with the position last March, he was successful in representing Arviat in the House. McKay-Keenan should know. After 12 years in Arviat, he's seen three different MLAs come and go.
"He spends less time here now that he's the Speaker and that makes his job (as MLA) more challenging," said McKay-Keenan. "But from my point of view, he's doing a very adequate job. "I'm very happy with him."
But not everyone feels as positive about O'Brien's work.
David Aglukark, a board member for the Kivalliq Inuit Association, said he didn't think O'Brien was visible enough in the hamlet or that he provided adequate services.
"The simple answer is I don't feel so. It seems as if there's nothing coming into Arviat," said Aglukark. "He needs to either spend more time here or inform the public to let us know what he's doing to benefit Arviat."
