Contenders offer experience, education and a nuclear plant in run against incumbent

The election in Iqaluit Centre hit a speed bump when the RCMP received a complaint alleging Okalik Eegeesiak doesn't meet the 12-month residency requirement to run for MLA.

The complaint may eventually be denied. Or it may lead to one more by-election – and even criminal charges.

But until it is resolved voters in Iqaluit Centre still have four candidates to choose from in one of the territory's hottest contests.

Incumbent MLA Hunter Tootoo, after handily winning two previous elections, is running for a third term against two strong women opponents, Eegeesiak and Madeleine Redfern (whose father Colin Alexander lodged the Eegeesiak complaint), plus home-grown hero Joe Sageaktook.

Iqaluit Centre is at the heart of Nunavut's capital city, including everybody inside the Ring Road. Much housing is higher density with a transient population, including the eight- and six-storey apartment buildings, Grinnell Place, Paunna Place and Creekside Village.

The riding also includes three new developments: the Road to Nowhere, Lake and Plateau subdivisions, built since the 2004 election.

"I have local to international experience, and everything in between," in "politics, management and administration," says Eegeesiak, who has served as president of the Inuit Tapirisat Kanatami, and now chairs the Inuit Broadcasting Corp.

"Iqaluit and Nunavut need people with experience, education and a results-based orientation."

They also "need to feel more involved in government processes and policy development," she says. They feel "disconnected because there is little communication from the present MLA."

Eegeesiak says she would work with constituents to develop responses to their most pressing needs, including housing and recreation facilities.

She would include everyone who lives in the constituency, from those who just arrived to those who were born in Iqaluit, she says.

"As a local person, I want to work with the transient community" to foster "multilingual and multicultural cooperation and collaboration."

Eegeesiak is adamant that Iqaluit is her home and she has a right to run. "My name is on the ballot. It's up to the voters."

Redfern feels education is the single most pressing issue facing the territory. It's "key to Nunavut's ability to address many of the problems at hand," she says.

A 25 per cent graduation rate is not good enough, she says. People with higher education are less likely to be on welfare, more likely to own homes and contribute to Nunavut, she says.

"In signing the land claims agreement and the creation of our own public government, we have chosen to sign onto this democratic government model," says Redfern.

"We need people with the awareness and technical ability," and the "political savvy to engage the federal government and find cost-sharing opportunities that will be mutually beneficial," she said.

Born in Iqaluit, Redfern lived in Ottawa for many years, where she ran her own business and volunteered and worked for local Inuit agencies. She is relearning the Inuktitut she lost down south.

A graduate of Nunavut's Akitsiraq Law School, Redfern clerked with Justice Louise Charron of the Supreme Court of Canada.

She is the executive director of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, an experience she credits with helping her decide to run for MLA.

At 33, Sageaktook wants to "get more Inuit into the workforce. Article 23 of the Nunavut land claims agreement is taking too long to be implemented," he says.

Higher positions should involve a training component, so that Inuit who don't currently qualify can be trained in the job. "The agreement is law, but it's not being implemented," says Sageaktook.

He also wants a fair pricing system for gasoline across Nunavut communities. "Why should subsistence hunters in Iqaluit pay more for gas than hunters in Kimmirut or Resolute Bay?" he asks.

His most radical idea, though, is to build a nuclear power plant south of Arviat to generate and sell power into southern markets through the Manitoba grid.

"We're starting to mine uranium, and we're going to be just about giving it away," says Sageaktook, who apprenticed as an electrician with Qulliq Energy Corp. and has worked there for 12 years.

"We should be making electricity with the uranium, and selling the electricity."

Hunter Tootoo is running on his record as one of the most outspoken MLAs in the legislature, who consistently challenged the government on issues of accountability, openness and transparency.

"The next five years will be tough," he says.

Fuel price increases, and their effects on goods and services, may raise government costs by as much as 25 percent.

We need "pro-active, thorough and objective evaluation processes," he says, and "a comprehensive performance measurement system" for government programs, so those that work can be protected and those that don't can be fixed or replaced.

He would convince Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec to support increased federal funding for Nunavut, so it can catch up on infrastructure.

"Every penny we get flows back through those economies," Tootoo said.

Nunavut needs devolution, says Tootoo, to develop its own much-needed revenue sources.

But "it's no secret we have capacity issues."

To that end, he would address federal concerns honestly and realistically, so both parties "are comfortable and confident in moving forward."

Tootoo was born in Rankin Inlet, grew up down south, and came home in 1993, at age 30, working in municipal and territorial governments in Arviat, Rankin and Iqaluit. He was elected to Nunavut's first legislative assembly in 1999.

"The only promise I make," says Tootoo, "is to work hard, and not be afraid to say what needs to be said."