Akesuk promises to try harder next time

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

CAPE DORSET – Aiming to do a better job than in his last term as MLA, Olayuk Akesuk wants to bring more jobs, housing and infrastructure to South Baffin.

A young cabinet minister, Akesuk faces competition from two political neophytes, Malicktoo Lyta, and his sister-in-law, Martha Lyta, both of Kimmirut.

“I’d like to do a better job,” Akesuk said in an interview from his home in Cape Dorset. “I think there are more improvements for me to do.”

In 1999, Akesuk won the riding by defeating the late Goo Arlooktoo, a Northwest Territories cabinet minister who was expected by many to become as Nunavut’s first premier.

Akesuk said his list of campaign promises ranges from bringing education standards up to “southern” levels across the territory, to constituency issues, such as finding money for a dock, and a bigger community centre.

For the region, Akesuk said he would lobby mining companies to open a quarry for white marble, either near his home town of Cape Dorset, or Kimmirut, the riding’s smaller community to the east.

Akesuk acknowledged that his roots in Cape Dorset, which is more populous than Kimmirut, give him an advantage, but said he would make an extra effort to represent the entire riding.

Akesuk said that if he’s re-elected, he will fight to get new housing for the entire region. He also wants the next government to research the prospect of developing a shrimp and shellfish industry in the region.

Akesuk admitted the territorial government’s finances are tight, and that he will have to come up with creative solutions to fund his promises. But he said, based on his previous interactions with the federal government, he had the experience to find the much-needed funds.

“I think the new federal government will understand our needs,” he said.

Akesuk brings his campaign to Kimmirut this week.