Elections Nunavut disqualifies 7 candidates for 5 years

Seven Nunavummiut are barred from running for municipal or territorial office for five years over their alleged failures to properly submit their financial disclosures from last year’s territorial election, and at least one of them is considering appealing the disqualification.

Agoakteak Gregory Nahaglulik, who ran in the Gjoa Haven riding, said he sent his financial disclosure by mail but issues at the time with his local Canada Post office may have led to his package getting lost.

“I truly believe that my … document containing my campaign stuff was lost somewhere along the way,” Nahaglulik said.

He added he didn’t raise any money for his campaign.

However, the financial account he created for his campaign has been closed, and he doesn’t have backup documentation.

“If this was like a situation such as mine where things got lost because of errors and stuff like that, I cannot see why we have to be punished,” Nahaglulik said.

Sonny Porter in Gjoa Haven, Malaiya Lucassie in Iqaluit-Tasiluk, Phillip Kalluk in Quttiktuq, Tagak Curley in Rankin Inlet South, and Joanna Quassa in Aggu are also barred from running for territorial and municipal office until Dec. 30, 2030.

Louis Tapardjuk, who ran in Aggu and died in April, is also on the disqualified list.

Their names are included in the Elections Nunavut Report on the Conduct of the Seventh Nunavut General Election, which was tabled in the legislative assembly on May 21.

Curley said he is also puzzled why he’s barred from running.

The veteran Nunavut leader also ran what he described as a zero-dollar campaign and says he properly submitted his disclosure via the local returning office.

“We complied with the reporting requirement,” Curley said.

The Nunavut’s Elections Act requires candidates to submit their financial returns within 60 days of the election, said Kiran Situt, Nunavut’s chief electoral officer, in an interview.

“They failed to comply with it, that’s why they are disqualified,” Situt said, adding the former candidates can appeal.

“I’m just following the act and reporting it.”

Curley said he’s not complaining and he has no plans to run for office again.

“I’m over 80 years old now,” he said, adding that he’s happy with a “younger generation” taking over leadership positions.

Nahaglulik, however, said he’s hoping to run in the 2027 municipal election.

He hopes to explore an appeal to become eligible again.

“If there’s other means or other ways to to avoid this, then those steps should be taken rather than just punishing the person outright,” Nahaglulik said.

“I find this, in a sense, discriminating towards Nunavummiut, especially towards future candidates.”

4 RCMP investigations, no charges

Situt’s election report indicates the Elections Nunavut filed four complaints to Nunavut RCMP over alleged violations of the Elections Act.

Those include a candidate who hadn’t taken the appropriate leave of absence from their job but later dropped out of the race, a CBC reporter accused of taking photos of a polling station, and two instances of 17-year-olds attempting to vote underage.

The RCMP, which is responsible for looking into Elections Act complaints, investigated all four incidents and no charges were laid.