Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

IQALUIT - A candidate from Iqaluit Centre is under scrutiny following a complaint she may not be eligible to run in the territorial election.

The RCMP is currently investigating a complaint that Okalik Eegeesiak is ineligible to run on the basis of not having been a resident of Nunavut, according to a release from Elections Nunavut.

Eegeesiak was previously based in Ottawa, as president of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation. In order to be eligible to run, she would need to have been a resident of Nunavut for 12 months prior to the election on Oct. 27.

Eegeesiak said she believes the chief electoral officer, Sandy Kusugak, overstepped her authority by making the investigation public.

"What was the motivation? I am glad that my name will be on the ballot as announced by the (Elections Nunavut) legal counsel and that it is now up to the voters," Eegeesiak wrote in a recent email to Nunavut News/North. "I hope this will mobilize my supporters and help the undecided see how the politics has to change here in Iqaluit and Nunavut by voting for me."

An investigator has been assigned full-time to the case, according to Staff Sgt. Harold Trupish.

"We want to get this information as soon as possible," he said.

Once complete, the RCMP will turn the report over to the chief electoral officer and integrity commissioner.

If the candidate is found to have committed an offence under the Nunavut Elections Act, it will then be determined whether they should be charged or dealt with under a compliance agreement.

This is the second time residency has become an issue in this election. Former MP Jack Anawak was excluded from running by Elections Nunavut, who ruled he was not a resident of the territory.