NUNAVUT
Members of the Fourth Legislative Assembly of Nunavut recently put their heads together to decide what direction they should take during their four-year mandate, and have decided to focus on building self-sufficient communities by creating a diverse economy, using government resources wisely and improving the territory's health care and education systems.

Members of the Fourth Legislative Assembly of Nunavut have set their priorities and laid out specific initiatives to be pursued during their four-year mandate. Here, Finance Minister Keith Peterson, left, Community and Government Services Minister Tom Sammurtok, Environment Minister Johnny Mike, Economic Development and Transportation Minister George Kuksuk, Family Services Minister Jeannie Ugyuk, Education Minister Paul Quassa, Premier Peter Taptuna, Health Minister Monica Ell and Justice and Cultural and Heritage Minister Paul Okalik participate in a cabinet retreat in Kugaaruk earlier this month. The final decisions on the direction to be taken by the new government were set during a full-caucus retreat in Kugluktuk from Feb. 18 to 21.

"We have lots of things that we want to accomplish, but those are going to take time," said Premier Peter Taptuna on the importance of having clear guidelines to inform the work of the legislative assembly.

These decisions were made during a full-caucus retreat where 20 of Nunavut's 22 MLAs met from Feb. 18 to 21 in Kugluktuk – Taptuna's hometown.

"This would be the first time all the MLAs gathered in Kugluktuk to have a meeting," said Taptuna.

The government's new overall strategy is called Sivumut Abluqta: Stepping Forward Together, which focuses on creating clear, achievable goals.

For the next four years, MLAs promise to keep four themes top of mind: self-reliance and optimism through education and training; healthy families through strong and resilient communities; economic growth through responsible development across all sectors; and good government through wise use of resources.

The top priority, education, aims to address social issues by providing individuals with the training they need to find gainful employment. This will provide the necessary foundation for a better overall quality of life, said Taptuna.

"One of the outcomes we want to see is actual graduates coming out with quality education prepared either for further education down south or prepared to take on employment," he said.

With education comes self-esteem, he said.

"Where there is hope, there is usually action."

The focus on healthy communities also ties in to improving mental health and quality of life.

Tying into this is the third priority, to provide economic growth through responsible development.

MLAs thoughts on this were two-fold: that the economy needs to diversify so it does not rely too heavily on boom-and-bust exploration and mining projects; and that Nunavut needs to work on its regulatory regime in order to attract investment.

"There has got to be certainty," said Taptuna on regulatory requirements for resource projects in the territory.

The final priority aims to ensure the government uses its time and money efficiently, and does not get bogged down in studies and reports that do not affect the lives of the average Nunavummiut.

"We can't tie up our staff doing these things that will not have an impact immediately," said Taptuna. "We're in charge of public funds and we want to make sure those funds are transparent and accountable."

He added there is "a good possibility" that the government will work on tightening up some of the contribution agreements.

Fixed elections dates coming

Aside from the four priorities, MLAs decided on five specific initiatives they will pursue, including introducing legislation that will create fixed election dates.

The next general election will be on the last Monday of October, 2017.

MLAs agreed to introduce amendments to the Nunavut Elections Act in March, which will result in territorial elections being held every four years from now on.

The mid-term leadership review is scheduled to take place in the fall of 2015 and will be more broad than past reviews. The public review will look at the size of cabinet, the committee structure in the legislative assembly, and review how well the government is doing with sticking to its four priorities.

Also keeping with the theme of being transparent and accountable, the caucus committed to establishing a clear code of conduct for MLAs regarding their public behaviour while representing the Government of Nunavut.

Nunavut voters can expect to head to the polls in 2016 to vote on a plebiscite concerning Article 14.8.4 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement regarding the alienation of municipal lands. Voters will be asked whether the current restrictions on the disposal of municipal lands should continue.

Finally, the fourth assembly is required to review the Education Act, the Official Languages Act and the

Inuit Language Protection Act before the end of their term.

As they head into the house for the first time in the life of this government on March 6, the first order of business for MLAs will be finalizing the territorial budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which begins April 1.

Nunavut Commissioner Edna Elias is expected to give the Throne Speech, also known as the Commissioner's Opening Address, on March 18.