Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services
Monday, April 16, 2007

IQALUIT - A mass mailout to Nunavut by Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington has left many people confused.

It has the Nunavut MP asking about the use of language, the Liberal nominee asking if Bevington is moving to Iqaluit, and has the Nunavut NDP president wondering why he was not informed.

Bevington said the mailout was a "10 percenter," a commonly-used direct mail strategy in the House of Commons.

"Every MP is allowed to send these types of paper out on a regular basis," said Bevington. "It is a common practice. I get Liberal 10 percenters at my house."

The name "10 percenter" comes from rules governing the mailouts. An MP can send a mass mailing to another MP's riding as a part of their House of Commons budget.

They can only send it to 10 per cent of the population in a riding, and half of those letters must differ in content.

"Perhaps this is unusual for a Northern MP, but you can send each one to 10 per cent of the riding," said Bevington.

The one-page, two-sided, unilingual English letter - titled "Arctic Sovereignty: What is going on?" - was found in many Iqaluit mailboxes on April 12.

Sent by Bevington - and featuring a photo of the Western Arctic MP - it targets both the Conservative government and the Liberal MP for Nunavut.

"(Iqaluit) Mayor Sheutiapik, just like all Nunavummiut, has had to find out what is up with the port through the southern media rather than from the Liberal MP for Nunavut or the Harper government," reads the document.

Paul Quassa was just named NDP riding president for Nunavut. The 10 percenter was a surprise to him.

"No, I haven't seen the letter, or anything at all," said Quassa. "I don't know what to say. This is an issue that everyone in Nunavut knows, and as a member of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, that is something we talk about."

The Nunavut NDP do not have a candidate yet, but are holding a conference call on April 16 to help determine that.

Kirt Ejesiak is the Liberal nominee for Nunavut. He received a Bevington flyer in his mailbox, and is wondering what is up, not with sovereignty, but with Bevington.

"I haven't heard from Dennis Bevington except for this flyer," said Ejesiak. "I'll be sending him a polite note asking if he is moving to Nunavut."

"The NDP is trying to score some points in Nunavut, and they are trying to lump the mayor in with the NDP," said Ejesiak.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell is the outgoing Liberal MP for Nunavut, and has experience doing mass mailouts in Nunavut. She thinks Bevington made a mistake not including Inuktitut in the letter.

"I haven't seen it, but I don't imagine it is in Inuktitut," said Karetak-Lindell.

"If I send out anything in English only, I get more complaints about the language than about the issue."

Karetak-Lindell doesn't use the 10 percenters, but can see why Bevington would target Iqaluit with his 10 per cent.

"They are in English, that is why he is targeting Iqaluit," said Karetak-Lindell.

"It is politics. Just look at all the questions they (the NDP) ask in the house. There is always a message about the Liberals in their questions for the Conservative," said Karetak-Lindell.

Bevington promises to send out flyers in Inuktitut, as soon as they are translated.

"We are going to do translation, and the House (of commons) can provide that. We are working on those dialects," said Bevington.

"Translation is difficult," said Karetak-Lindell.

"When we do it, it comes out of our office budget, and good translators are hard to find."