Baffin Liberals come to life

TODD PHILLIPS

The last time the Nunatsiaq Liberals held a nomination meeting, they slapped incumbent Jack Anawak on the back and wished him well.

This time around, there may be a battle to decide who will represent the people of Nunatsiaq in Parliament in the upcoming election, now expected to be held June 2.

The past few Liberal candidates have all hailed from Rankin Inlet, where coincidentally the nomination meetings were held.

But this time the previously invisible Baffin Liberal Party forces are standing up and making some noise.

Iqaluit MLA Ed Picco is hosting a pre-nomination meeting for interested Liberals on Sunday April 13 from 4-6 p.m. at the Discovery Inn.

“We want to sign up new members and look at possible candidates for the upcoming federal election,” Picco says.

“There will be candidates from other regions coming forward…We’d like to see a Baffin candidate.”

Anawak replacement sought

Although the current Liberal MP hasn’t declared he won’t run again, Picco says he’s 99 per cent certain Anawak will soon be appointed as Nunavut’s interim commissioner.

The formal nomination meeting may be held this year in Cambridge Bay, where local candidate Helen Klengenberg, with the backing of the Keewatin wing of the Liberal Party, is expected to contest the nomination.

Picco, a Liberal Party member since 1983, says he’s declined offers from supporters urging him to run for MP.

Although Picco wouldn’t confirm it, Nunatsiaq News has learned that Eva Adams-Klaasen, former GNWT employee and now executive assistant to NTI’s secretary-treasurer Natsiq Kango, may be interested in running.

“I haven’t had time to give it consideration right now,” Adams-Klaasen said from Broughton Island.

With the possibility of a fight for the nomination looming, she said Nunatsiaq might be one riding that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien decides to directly appoint a female candidate.

“It would make everyone’s lives a lot easier up here if he would just appoint someone,” she said.

Picco says Deputy Premier Goo Arlooktoo was interested in the job, but has decided not to run this time. Iqaluit Mayor Joe Kunuk has been approached to run, but isn’t interested either, Picco says.

Picco says he expects local Liberals like Fred Coman, Stu Kennedy, Brenda McDonald and new member Joe Kunuk to attend the pre-nomination meeting.

NTI president Jose Kusugak says he’s been called by some people interested in running for MP, but says his organization won’t formally back any candidate or political party.

“It’s starting to get fun already,” Kusugak says.