Makivik candidates wind down campaigns with live radio debate

During two-hour joint TNI-CBC broadcast Jan. 17, Makivik Corp.’s four presidential candidates gathered at CBC Kuujjuaq to field questions on the future of Nunavimmiut youth, education, jobs for Inuit and the housing shortage. Voters will elect a new president Jan. 19. (FILE PHOTO)

Listeners across Nunavik did not declare a winner in yesterday’s Makivik Corp. presidential election debate.

But many say the debate, which aired live on CBC Radio’s Tuttavik Jan. 17, helped them whittle down which candidate will get their votes.

During the two-hour joint Taqramiut Nipingat Inc.-CBC broadcast, Makivik Corp.’s four presidential candidates gathered at CBC Kuujjuaq to field questions on the future of Nunavimmiut youth, education, jobs for Inuit and the housing shortage.

On Jan. 19, Nunavik beneficiaries will vote to either re-elect long-time president Pita Aatami or bring in the organization’s first new president since 1998: former Makivik president and Senator Charlie Watt, Nunavik Regional Government negotiator Harry Tulugak or Kativik Regional Government director general Jobie Tukkiapik.

During the broadcast, TNI’s Charlie Shipaluk asked the candidates how they plan to support the high numbers of youth in Nunavik.

“What do you plan to do to fix education so more young people to have access to jobs?” Shipaluk asked.

Tukkiapik said that Nunavimmiut need post-secondary options that are closer to home, to make access to skills and training more accessible.

Aatami pointed to Quebec’s Plan Nord, which he says will bring more resource-sector jobs to the region. But he believes the province should also chip in money to pay for training opportunities to ensure Nunavimmiut are eligible for those jobs.

Watt argued that the region needs its own post-secondary institution: “Let’s stop talking about it and do it,” he said.

Watt also said Nunavik’s organizations must review their job opportunities and determine how they can target Inuit to fill those positions.

Tulugak suggested that the success of Nunavik’s midwifery program, which trains Inuit midwifes in the region, could be a model to build on for training Inuit for other professions.

He also suggested that parents must take a larger role in motivating their children to complete their studies.

Another caller asked candidates about what regulations they could introduce to protect the development of Inuttitut.

Watt said regional organizations all have the power to promote the use of the Inuit language. If elected as president, Watt says he plans to put a resolution forward that will introduce safeguards for the language at Makivik’s next annual meeting.

But Tulugak argued that laws only go so far in language protection.

One of the major threats to the Inuit language is the number of non-Inuit coming into the region, Tulugak said. They can and should use the language, too, but he said that Nunavimmiut must make learning Inuttitut more attractive and fun.

As long-time president of Makivik, Aatami said he helped pass the regulation that requires the organization’s elected officials to speak Inuttitut — a condition he believes will help ensure language remains a priority at Nunavik’s birthright organization.

But Tukkiapik said the strength of the language begins in the home. Nunavik’s daycare program has also played an important role in nurturing the use of the language in children’s early years, he said.

All four candidates touched on Inuit self-determination, particularly in the face of the resource development expected to happen under Quebec’s Plan Nord.

Aatami promised to work towards self-government to achieve “a government for the Inuit with law-making powers.”

Watt, one of the negotiators of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, acknowledged that agreement is not perfect, “but it holds many tools we can use to further our development.”

He says he wants to restore aboriginal title to the region; a right to the land itself — not just the right to hunt, fish and gather from it.

Tulugak said he would work to achieve a self-government based on a Nunavimmiut vision for what they want their future to be.

And Tukkiapik said that as president, he would ensure that Makivik becomes more responsive to the needs of the region.

“After all, Makivik belongs to us,” he said.

This is Tukkipik’s first run at the Makivik executive, although he has served as the organization’s Kuujjuaq representative for many years.

Watt and Tulugak have both faced off against – and lost to – Aatami in past presidential elections.

See Nunatsiaq News’ profiles of all four candidates here.

Polls open Jan. 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at local municipal offices or landholding corporation offices.

Voters must be beneficiaries who are at least 18 years of age.

Voters in Montreal can cast ballots at Makivik Corp.’s local office. The organization will also have a staff member visiting Inuit organizations across the city with ballots.

Nunavummiut who are outside the region can also contact Makivik Corp.’s chief returning officer Maggie Aupalu at (514) 745-8880 to request a proxy ballot, which can be sent by fax.