A new Nunavut MLA: Emiliano Qirngnuq wins in Netsilik
Candidate needs only 30.7 per cent to take seat in hometown vote split
A Canadian Coast Guard helicopter delivers freight to Kugaaruk in late September 2014. Emiliano Qirngnuq, manager at the Kugaaruk co-op, will serve as the next MLA for Netsilik, following a Feb. 8 by-election. (FILE PHOTO)
Emiliano Qirngnuq, 66, a co-op employee in Kugaaruk, will serve as the new MLA for Netsilik following a Feb. 8 by-election whose result revealed a hometown popularity contest that split the vote in Qirngnuq’s favour.
Qirngnuq took the seat with 30.7 per cent of ballots cast or 137 votes, 21 votes more than Tars Angutingunirk, also of Kugaaruk, Elections Nunavut said.
John Ningark, the veteran ex-MLA and cabinet minister from Taloyoak, finished well back with 65 votes.
The Netsilik seat comprises Kugaaruk and Taloyoak.
Taloyoak, whose vote split among three candidates, lists 404 eligible voters, 67 more than Kugaaruk’s 347.
But Kugaaruk’s vote was split between only two candidates. That, and a higher turnout in Kugaaruk — 240 votes cast for a 69 per cent turnout — appeared to help Qirngnuq take the seat.
In Taloyoak, only 206 voters, about 51 per cent, cast ballots.
Here are the Elections Nunavut by-election results:
• Emiliano Qirngnuq, Kugaaruk: 137
• Tars Angutingunirk, Kugaaruk: 116
• John Ningark, Taloyaok: 65
• Wesley Totalik Sr., Taloyoak: 64
• Joseph Quqqiaq, Taloyoak: 57
Overall, 446 voters, out of a list of 751 eligible voters, cast ballots in Netsilik, for a turnout of 59 per cent.
Measured as a proportion of all eligible voters, Qirngnuq’s total of 137 represents only about 18.2 per cent of the eligible vote.
Qirngnuq succeeds Jeannie Ugyuk, who was elected MLA in Netsilik in 2013, but resigned her seat this past Nov. 9 after MLAs decided to have her removed from cabinet.
He’ll likely take his oath of office and take his seat in time for the winter sitting of the Nunavut legislature, which starts Feb. 24.
See below for a table showing the full Elections Nunavut voting results in the Feb. 8 Netsilik by-election.
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