Interim commissioner must first accept job terms, Kusugak says

TODD PHILLIPS

NTI President Jose Kusugak says he can’t confirm that Nunatsiaq MP Jack Anawak is about to be named interim commissioner of Nunavut.

“I don’t think that’s a question that I can entertain,” Kusugak said this week.

Kusugak said he’s talked with Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin about the appointment, and expects Irwin will make the announcement in the next couple of weeks.

Story premature?

Kusugak also said that a Nunatsiaq News story last week that said Anawak was about to be named to the job was premature.

“There is way more to hiring an interim commissioner than saying a person’s name,” Kusugak said. “Anything short of something coming from my mouth, the minister’s mouth or the premier’s mouth is premature.”

He said, for example, the person will have to agree to work with a deputy interim commissioner, and will have to agree to abide by the conditions outlined in his letters of instruction.

Must live in Iqaluit

That includes agreeing on which community he must work from. The three signatories to the Nunavut political accord have agreed the person must work in the capital of Nunavut. Anawak and his family recently moved back to Rankin Inlet.

Kusugak also expressed some concern about when the interim commissioner can get to work.

He said if Anawak is named to the post, he likely won’t be able to take the job until at least April, when a byelection can be held to replace him as MP for Nunatsiaq.

Nunatsiaq MP Jack Anawak didn’t return calls by our presstime to answer questions about his possible appointment to the post.

The interim commissioner will represent the interests of the people of Nunavut until the new government takes over after April 1, 1999, when the Nunavut territory will be born.