Aariak shakes things up with Nunavut cabinet shuffle

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak speaks to reporters at a news conference in Iqaluit Sept. 16. Aariak announced a major cabinet shuffle this week, moving embattled housing minister Hunter Tootoo to the Department of Education. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Updated Sept. 15, 6:01 p.m.

Hunter Tootoo is out as housing minister after a cabinet shuffle announced by Premier Eva Aariak late Sept. 15 after a cabinet retreat in Iqaluit.

Tootoo, who faced calls for his resignation earlier this year after he revealed $60 million in cost overruns at the Nunavut Housing Trust, also leaves behind responsibility for the Qulliq Energy Corporation and homelessness files. He becomes Minister of Education and minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Committee.

Tagak Curley becomes minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, which oversees the housing trust, and for homelessness. Curley will remain Minister of Health and Social Services and also takes over as government house leader from Louis Tapardjuk, who becomes chair of the Utility Rates Review Council.

Lorne Kusugak, already Minister of Energy, takes over responsibility for Qulliq Energy Corporation and the energy secretariat.

Tootoo’s handling of the financial mess enraged some regular MLAs, who openly mused this past spring about trying remove him from the portfolio. He was still giving interviews as housing minister early Sept. 15, but wasn’t available for comment after the shuffle was announced.

Speaking to reporters Sept. 16, Aariak acknowledged the troubles at the Nunavut Housing Corporation, and said the government was working to fix the situation. But she said cabinet shuffles are a regular occurrence in government.

“I’m very proud of my ministers and what they do and it’s not uncommon that a minister is shuffled,” she said.

Fred Schell, who in June backed an abandoned motion by Iqaluit West MLA Paul Okalik to give Tootoo the boot, said the premier’s move was overdue.

“I’m glad she did it but to me it’s too little, too late,” Schell said.

Schell said he and other regular MLAs pushed Aariak to move Tootoo out of housing and only did so now because “she got wind” of plans to seek Tootoo’s ouster when the assembly resumes in October.

Schell also said the choice to replace Curley is curious, because of the heavy workload associated with the health portfolio, Nunavut’s largest and most expensive government department. But Schell was also quick to point out he wasn’t criticizing Curley’s ability as a minister.

Aariak said Curley is an experienced minister and won’t have any problem handling both portfolios. “I am not concerned at all. I have every confidence in the minister,” she said.

In the meantime, Schell said regular MLAs plan to push for a forensic audit and major shakeup of the Nunavut Housing Corporation. “There’s a lot of dead weight” at the corporation, he said.

The cabinet changes come as Aariak’s government unveiled what it called a “roadmap for the future” in plans for the remaining three years of its mandate.

Included in those priorities is a promise to build community freezers in all 25 Nunavut hamlets, improve school breakfast programs and increase the number of daycare spaces. It also includes plans to make the public service more effective and boost government revenues through “financial partnerships” with the federal government, Inuit associations and the private sector.

Aariak wouldn’t give details about how those partnerships might work, but said the GN needs to find sources of revenue to replace “antiquated infrastructure,” help Nunavut’s hunters and attack poverty.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott said those are worthy objectives, but wondered whether the government will even be able to pass required legislation before its term runs out. “We’re going to be pushing it,” he said.

He’s also concerned there’s no mention in the government’s plans about promised action to tackle poverty, create the office of children’s advocate or finalize a suicide prevention strategy.

“Maybe what we need to do is become more focussed,” Eliott said.

Schell said he’s worried the problems at the housing corporation will overshadow the government’s new agenda.

“It’s definitely going to take away from all the good things the government’s got planned.”

The territorial government also marked the end of its cabinet retreat with a list trumpeting its accomplishments of the last two years.