Five candidates vie for election to Nunavut’s Netsilik seat

The veteran ex-MLA John Ningark is one of three candidates seeking election in the Feb. 8 vote to be held in the Netsilik constituency. (FILE PHOTO)

(Updated, 6:30 p.m.)

Five candidates will vie for a seat in the Netsilik Legislative Assembly constituency when voters from Kugaaruk and Taloyoak head to the polls for a by-election Feb. 8.

Candidates had until 2 p.m. local time Jan. 8 to declare their candidacies for the election.

Elections Nunavut officials told Nunatsiaq News the list of candidates would be finalized an hour later.

According to the Elections Nunavut website, here is the final list, in alphabetical order, of candidates running in the Netsilik by-election:

• Tars Angutingunirk of Kugaaruk;

• John Ningark of Kugaaruk;

• Emilino Qirngnuq of Kugaaruk;

• Wesley Totalik Sr. of Taloyoak; and,

• Joseph Quqqiaq of Taloyoak,

Angutingunirk recently ran for the position of Kitikmeot Inuit Association vice president in a December 2015 election.

He finished second in that race, just 10 votes behind winner David Novalingalok.

Ningark served as MLA in the Northwest Territories legislature before the 1999 creation of Nunavut and as a Nunavut MLA afterwards.

Most recently, Ningark won a 2009 by-election in the former Akulliq riding, comprised of Kugaaruk and Repulse Bay. Ningark did not run in the 2013 general election.

Qirngnuq is a relative newcomer to Nunavut politics, having served on his community’s hunters and trappers association.

The by-election is being held because former Netsilik MLA Jeannie Ugyuk resigned her seat in November, 2015.

Ugyuk, the former family services minister, lost a vote of confidence from her fellow MLAs during a leadership review Nov. 7, 2015 and resigned from both the cabinet and the house two days later.

Voters in Kugaaruk and Taloyoak can cast ballots Feb. 8 at their respective hamlet offices between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

An earlier version of this story reported that three candidates are running for the Netsilik seat. This was based on incorrect information that appears on the Elections Nunavut website.