Nunavut, Nunavik MPs to run for re-election

Romeo Saganash hopes to hold onto his seat in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou, where he was easily elected in 2011. (FILE PHOTO)

Leona Aglukkaq will run in her third federal election this year.(FILE PHOTO)

The current members of Parliament for Nunavut and Nunavik have each confirmed they’ll try to keep their seats in the next federal election, which must be held this year before Oct. 19.

The office of Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, who currently serves as the federal environment minister, says the Kitikmeot region native will run for re-election.

Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou’s New Democratic Party MP Romeo Saganash has also announced he’ll run again in 2015.

In Nunavut, this will be Aglukkaq’s third run: first elected in 2008, the Conservative MP took a seat that had been held by the Liberals for about 20 years.

She became the first Inuk sworn into federal cabinet as health minister. After she was re-elected in 2011, Aglukkaq acquired the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency portfolio and was named Arctic Ambassador and chair of the Arctic Council.

In July 2013, Aglukkaq moved into her current portfolio as environment minister.

In northern Quebec, NDP Romeo Saganash was elected in a sweep that saw the NDP pick up 58 of the province’s 75 seats.

The Cree lawyer from Waswanipi, Que. easily took the riding of Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou — one of the country’s largest in size — from Bloc Québécois MP Yvon Lévesque.

But the NDP, which has yet to announce a candidate in Nunavut, will likely have to pick up the pace this spring in order to remain as the official opposition in the House of Commons.

A number of national polls through the month of December revealed the party’s lowest level of support since the 2011 election — just 21 per cent.

The federal Liberals continued to hold onto their lead through 2014, ending the year with about 35 per cent support, according to the polling site threehundredeight.com.

Right now, the Liberal party holds only 35 seats in the House of Commons, well behind the NDP’s 96 seats and the 163 held by the Conservatives, although the governing party has begun to lag in the polls.

The Conservatives picked up some support to finish the year with 32 per cent, their highest level of support since February 2013.

In Nunavut, Aglukkaq faced criticism over a number of issues in 2014 including the government’s support for seismic testing in Baffin Bay, approved by the National Energy Board in 2014 and the MP’s alleged reaction to a report on food insecurity in Rankin Inlet.