Jack's back, now for NDP
Former Liberal MP switches party for 2015 federal election race
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
IQALUIT
Jack Anawak wants to make sure Nunavut is represented in Ottawa, not the other way around.
Jack Anawak has entered the federal election race as Nunavut's candidate for the New Democratic Party. He gave a speech in a sunny Sylvia Grinnell Park Pavilion on Aug. 23 in Iqaluit. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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The two-term former Liberal member of Parliament is back on the federal political stage, this time representing the New Democratic Party in the 2015 election.
"Our MP has not been representing us in Ottawa," said Anawak to a room of about two dozen supporters on Aug. 23 in Iqaluit, referring to current Conservative MP Leona Aglukkaq.
"Instead, she has been representing the Conservative Party in Nunavut."
That line drew cheers in the crowd.
"That has to change," said Anawak. "We need our representative to represent us in Ottawa on Nunavut issues."
Anawak said he has been watching the federal government over the last several years "with a heavy heart," saying he's been disappointed and sometimes shocked.
The federal government has not reflected the needs or values of Nunavummiut, sidelined communities, minimized Inuit input and overruled Inuit positions, he said.
"I don't think I'm alone in that disappointment."
As a former MP, Anawak said he knows how federal politics works, and informed the audience he actually voted NDP in his first two eligible elections.
"After careful consideration it was clear to me that the NDP platform is the one that will serve Nunavut the best," he said.
He rattled off a host of policies he wants to work on, including suicide prevention, mental health, food security, tax breaks for small businesses, infrastructure support, $15 per day national daycare, agreement to work with Inuit and more Inuit recruitment in the RCMP
He also wants to change the government's tune on climate change, decriminalize marijuana and erase past charges for marijuana possession.
Anawak, who made his speech in Inuktitut as well, recently told Nunavut News/North that "language is the foundation of our culture," adding that he was disappointed that Liberal candidate Hunter Tootoo could not speak it.
"This is Inuit homeland," he told Nunavut News/North at the time. "If we had language policies as strong as Quebec, that would have never happened."
