Liberal, Tory trade barbs while Green, NDP contenders look on

After a confusing all-candidates forum in Iqaluit last week that nearly spun out of control, the contest for Nunavut's seat in the House of Commons is boiling down to a grudge match between Leona Aglukkaq of the Conservatives and Kirt Ejesiak of the Liberals.

Aglukkaq, who enjoys strong backing from the Conservative Party of Canada's national organization, used the debate to launch repeated attacks on her Liberal rival, who fought back with an equal degree of ferocity.

At the same time, Paul Irngaut of the New Democrats said neither Stephen Harper's Conservative government nor the Liberal governments that preceded it ever responded to the needs of Inuit.

And Peter Ittinuar of the Green Party floated above the fray, playing the role of elder statesman by telling voters that all three of his opponents would make good members of Parliament.

Organized by CBC radio and broadcast throughout Nunavut, the Sept. 25 all-candidates forum was marred by a variety of glitches.

English-Inuktitut interpreters showed up late and their equipment broke down soon after their arrival, so no functioning interpretation system existed for most of the three-hour gathering.

Partisan supporters of various candidates took advantage of the confusion by asking planted questions aimed at promoting their favoured candidate and embarrassing their opponents.

And some Iqaluit "elders" interrupted the forum to make long, rambling statements and launch impromptu attacks on Kirt Ejesiak.

One old man, who stood up to berate another man who spoke in support of Ejesiak, succeeded in drowning out Paul Irngaut's closing statement.

But organizers did nothing to quiet him. Peter Ittinuar drew a few smiles from the bored Iqaluit audience by pretending to throw a water bottle at the old man.

In spite of the chaos, candidates still managed to get their messages across.

And of all the issues they raised, one dominated all others: the Liberal party's Green Shift carbon tax plan.

Under that proposal, the federal government would raise about $15 billion a year by imposing taxes on most fossil fuels, except for gasoline.

That money would then be given back to taxpayers through reductions in personal income tax and other measures.

Leona Aglukkaq attacked the Liberal scheme throughout the course of the debate, saying a new tax on fuel products would produce unbearable increases in Nunavut's cost of living.

Referring to a watermelon bearing a $50 price tag that she saw at a local store, she claimed that the same watermelon would cost $100 if a carbon tax were applied in Nunavut.

She also said that few Nunavummiut would gain from the tax breaks that would flow from the Liberal plan, because many people don't earn enough cash income to benefit from the tax system.

"The Liberal platform is really dangerous," Aglukkaq said.

Ejesiak responded by listing the numerous cash benefits that would flow into the pockets of Nunavumiut through his party's plan, including a payment of $600 a year to elders, an expanded northern residents' deduction, and other payments.

And he also said that gasoline prices would not rise under the Green Shift scheme.

"Read my lips. There will be no new tax on gasoline," Ejesiak said.

Ejesiak also attacked the Conservatives for refusing to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and for not implementing the Kelowna accord.

"The Conservative party is no friend of Nunavut," Ejesiak said, saying a Liberal government would put more money into aboriginal education.

"Unless we educate our young people, we won't have a bright future," Ejesiak said.

Paul Irngaut of the New Democrats said, however, that the Liberal party ignored Nunavut's social housing needs when they were in power, and said the Conservatives would do no better.

"If you vote for Leona, it's a vote for Stephen Harper, but a vote for the NDP will put you and your family first," Irngaut said.

While acknowledging the $200 million that the Conservative government gave Nunavut in 2006 for social housing, Irngaut said Nunavut needs more money to operate and maintain its social housing stock.

That's because Ottawa's annual operation and maintenance contributions are slowly declining every year.

Peter Ittinuar of the Greens said it's likely that the Conservative party will win the election nationally.

But Ittinuar also said Nunavummiut would be best served by an opposition MP, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who rules his party "as a one-man show," would prevent Aglukkaq from speaking out on behalf of Nunavut residents.

And he said that the Greens are "a very, very serious party" with a leader, Elizabeth May, who believes in letting MPs speak out on behalf of their constituents.

"Elizabeth May knows that things are different in Nunavut," Ittinuar said.