Childhood trauma led to addiction, resignation: Nunavut MP

Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo gave his most revealing interview yet to CBC Sept. 7, in which he describes the childhood trauma he says provoked alcoholism and his eventual resignation from cabinet and the Liberal caucus. (SCREEN GRAB)

Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo says a childhood plagued with abuse drove him to alcohol addiction—trauma he has only begun to face in recent months.

The beleaguered MP, who resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus in May to seek treatment, and who now sits as an independent member of Parliament, gave his most revealing interview Sept. 7 to CBC News’ chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge.

“I came from a family that alcohol destroyed,” Tootoo told Mansbridge in a one-on-one interview filmed in Ottawa. “So the emotional trauma you witness and see as a child… it affected me.”

Tootoo said the trauma stemmed from the relationship between his parents. He left home at 14 years old and moved to Churchill, Manitoba to live with his grandmother before moving across the country to study at different colleges.

“I’ve been pretty much on my own since I was 14 years old,” Tootoo told Mansbridge.

“I was beaten. I was sexually abused. At 15 or 16, there was a suicide attempt. All these things that happened in my life… I always thought this stuff never bothered me. I buried it.”

Tootoo said the abuse happened in both the North and the South while he was away studying in Yellowknife, and in colleges in Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Mansbridge asked Tootoo why he thought he was a target for that abuse.

“I was a young child,” Tootoo replied. “I was vulnerable. I was like a chameleon. I fit into every situation I was thrown into to survive. Not talking about things and burying it… to forget those things, that didn’t help.”

Tootoo said he carried on and returned home to Nunavut to pursue a successful career in both business and later politics; he was first elected to the Nunavut legislature in 1999.

“Drinking wasn’t my problem,” Tootoo said. “Not drinking was my problem. Because when I wasn’t drinking, it was me. And I spent my life hiding myself from other people.”

Tootoo said he did not reveal his alcohol addiction while being vetted by the Liberal party leading up to the October 2015 election.

“Only by talking about those issues, I feel like I’m at peace with them,” he said.

In the interview, Tootoo said that he’s now sober, feeling better than ever and ready to get to work for Nunavummiut as the House of Commons prepares to sit for a fall session starting Sept. 19.

Mansbridge touched only briefly on a relationship Tootoo admitted to having as MP, which provoked his resignation, at least in part.

The CBC interviewer asked how the relationship could be both consensual and inappropriate, as Tootoo has described it.

“It was two consenting adults,” Tootoo said. “It was inappropriate. I won’t go into why because I promised the individual that I’d protect their privacy.”

Tootoo would not indicate if the relationship was with a staffer, as has been reported.

During his May 31 conversation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in which Tootoo resigned from cabinet and caucus, the MP told Mansbridge the PM told him to “take things one step at a time” and gave him a hug.

The Prime Minister’s Office would not comment on the CBC interview.

“We will not be commenting further on this issue,” said Cameron Ahmad, press secretary to the PMO, Sept. 8. “Our previous statements stand.”

The PMO said in July that Tootoo’s “status with regard to the Liberal caucus remains unchanged.”

But during the interview, Tootoo expressed hope that he would eventually be welcomed back by the Liberals.

For now though, Tootoo acknowledged he has work to do.

“I need to prove myself, that I’m the person the Prime Minister put trust in,” he said.

“[That] I am the person that the people that elected me put their trust in, to be able to represent them and bring forward their issues and try and make things better for the people of Nunavut.”

The CBC interview was a departure from other comments Tootoo has made publicly, which included tightly-scripted and often-repeated remarks.

Both times Tootoo has decided to reveal new details about his departure from the Liberal cabinet and caucus, he’s turned to the country’s national broadcaster.

But Nunavummiut have criticized Mansbridge for not pressing Tootoo to address the calls for his resignation, including accusations that his workplace relationship was an “abuse of power.”

@petermansbridge Why didn't you ask @HunterTootoo about his ability to represent Nunavummiut effectively going forward?

— Alethea ArnaquqBaril (@Alethea_Aggiuq) September 8, 2016

Iqaluit resident Andrew Morrison started a petition this week calling for Tootoo’s resignation. More than 90 people have signed the petition.

You can watch Tootoo’s CBC interview exerpt here. The full interview airs on CBC Television’s Mansbridge One on One Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m.