Two former Kivalliq MLAs return to contest seat in Aivilik

Patterk Netser, 58, is hoping to return the legislative assembly almost a decade after he last served as MLA. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

Jack Anawak, a former MLA and federal MP, is running for the seat in Aivilik. (FILE PHOTO)

(Updated Oct. 25 with new profile)

Two former Kivalliq MLAs are back in the race this year to reclaim a seat in Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly.

Former Nunalik MLA Patterk Netser and former Rankin Inlet North MLA Jack Anawak are vying for the Aivilik seat in the Oct. 30 territorial election.

Aivilik was created ahead of the 2013 election, encompassing Southampton Island and the area around Repulse Bay, including the communities of Coral Harbour and Naujaat.

Steve Mapsalak served as Aivilik’s MLA in the last assembly, but decided not to run again in 2017.

Patterk Netser, 58, is anxious to get back to the legislature, he said, in broad terms to “help people move along in life.”

His politics stretch back to the creation of Nunavut, when he was elected to the territory’s first government in a byelection in the riding then known as Nunalik.

Netser was re-elected in 2004 and went on to serve as minister of environment, minister of economic development and transportation, and minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp.

At that point, Netser had re-settled in Iqaluit, where his children and grandchildren are based.

He ran again as a candidate in 2008, but Johnny Ningeongan, a former Coral Harbour mayor, beat him by just 32 votes.

Netser then ran again in 2013, this time in Iqaluit-Tasiluk, but lost to George Hickes, who now serves as Nunavut’s health minister.

Today, Netser has returned home to Coral Harbour, where he works as a maintainer at the hamlet.

“I notice a real need for infrastructure and equipment here,” he said during a phone interview from Naujaat, where he was campaigning last week.

Netser said that a lot of infrastructure in that community and his own has aged over the years, from water and sewage trucks to storage facilities and roads.

“They were built when I was a child,” he said.

“That’s one of the things I want to address. We need to bring [Nunavut communities] up to par.”

Similarly, the need for housing remains critical, Netser said, calling for more government support to help Nunavummiut become homeowners.

“This government hasn’t addressed the people who maybe can’t afford to buy [a home] but can afford to maintain one,” he said.

Netser said Nunavut needs to roll out a lease-to-own program in which the GN purchases the home and the leasee pays off the down payment over a five-year period.

“These people have a strong desire to be prosperous and we should help them,” he said. “That’s an excellent investment in the lives of Nunavummiut.”

Netser said he’s proud of his track record as a “strong voice” for non-decentralized communities in Nunavut, in the previous terms he served as MLA.

He points to his efforts to establish the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal office in Coral Harbour, where it employs four staffers, as well as the 2011 opening of the Piqqusilirivvik cultural school in Clyde River.

If re-elected, Netser said he’ll continue to advocate for those communities to get their fair share.

The Aivilik candidate said the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana is a major health concern, in a territory that struggles with substance abuse.

“We don’t have any addictions treatment or rehabilitation centre in Nunavut to help people dealing with substance abuse,” he said. “We need that.”

The other contender for the Aivilik seat is Naujaat native Jack Anawak, a former MLA for Rankin Inlet North and Liberal Member of Parliament for the old federal riding of Nunatsiaq.

Anawak, now 66, put his name forward to run in his hometown of Naujaat, then called Repulse Bay, in Nunavut’s 2008 election. But his then-Ottawa- based role as ambassador for circumpolar affairs disqualified him from running.

In 2013, he resigned from his role as vice president at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. to run for MLA in Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu, but lost that race to Pat Angnakak.

“I’ve always wanted to run in the riding that is my home,” he said.

There are diamond deposits just north of the community and Anawak noted the exploration that’s happened in recent years—though it’s still in an early phase

“If the core samples look good, we’ll have to prepare for the impact that will have on our community,” he said. “And I want to be part of that planning process.”

Otherwise, Anawak believes that economic development is suffering in Nunavut because of the way public contracts are awarded by the territorial government. Too many southern-based construction firms are building infrastructure in Nunavut’s communities, he said.

To remedy that, Anawak said housing contracts should be divided in two: one where materials are purchased from a southern supplier and shipped North, with a second contract awarded to a local organization to manage the construction stage of the build.

Anawak said he also hears complaints from residents of both Coral Harbour and Naujaat about their elderly relatives sent to southern cities such as Winnipeg and Ottawa for extended care. In boarding homes, like in Winnipeg, there is little service offered in Inuktitut, Anawak said.

“It almost feels like you’re in a residential school,” he said. “The government has to prioritize their funding to ensure that our elders can be cared for in their communities.”

Finally, Anawak makes a strong push for better leadership in Nunavut.

Nunavut’s founding leaders worked to ensure that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit was an integral part of the design and delivery of territorial services, he said. But this has only
translated into lip service to Nunavummiut.

“Territorially, there’s a leadership vacuum,” he said.

Anawak pointed to children and family services as an example. “When children are taken away from parents may be having personal problems, the policy seems to be to
send them away,” he said. “But the grandparents should be the first point of contact. Let grandparents look after their grandchildren.”

So is Anawak looking for a larger role in the territorial government, if elected as MLA?

“You concentrate on getting elected first and you go from there. If you’re elected, you do what the electorate wants to do.”

This past summer, Anawak was charged with one count of operating a vehicle while impaired and one count of failing a breathalyzer test while operating a motor vehicle, stemming from an incident in Iqaluit, June 16.

A justice of the peace recently delayed a scheduled plea and adjourned the matter until November. The allegation has yet to be proven in court.

In response to questions about the charges, Anawak said, “I take full responsibility for my actions.”

For more information on voting hours and locations on Oct. 30, visit Elections Nunavut’s website.