Only incumbent has much name recognition in riding

The names of five candidates will be on the Oct. 14 ballot in Nunavik, part of the sprawling federal riding of Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou.

Incumbent Yvon Lévesque, who first won the seat from the Liberals for the nationalist Bloc Québécois party in 2004, is the only one of the five candidates even remotely familiar to Nunavimmiut.

However, voters in Kuujjuaq may meet the Liberal Party's Mark Canada, the sole candidate with any plans to campaign in Nunavik, and a man with an easy-to-recall family name.

Canada, who said he's gotten used to his name after 51 years, wants to stir up Liberal support in Kuujjuaq, arriving there with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion on his chartered Air Inuit jet.

The other candidates reached by Nunatsiaq News said the high cost of travel and short campaign period will keep them from traveling north of the James Bay region to get their message out.

However, all candidates said they're aware that First Nations and Inuit represent about one-fifth of the 58,000 potential voters in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou and that their votes could make a difference Oct 14.

In the last federal election, the Bloc had an advantage of 18 percentage points over the second-place Conservatives in Quebec's popular vote.

Polls in this campaign suggest the Bloc hold a narrower lead over the Conservatives.

Conservatives take on the Bloc

Jean-Maurice Matte, the Conservative candidate, is campaigning hard against the Bloc Québécois's incumbent Yvon Lévesque in the southern portion of the Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou riding.

Matte said he also sees many reasons for Inuit to vote Conservative this time around. He said his party has paid attention to the North, it will continue to do so, and if the riding goes to the Tories, Nunavimmiut have an MP who will regularly visit Nunavik and act on their concerns.

Matte fended off criticism from Lévesque that the Conservatives have been soft on climate change.

Matte said his party has an "aggressive plan" to curb global warming, by cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.

"The Bloc can say whatever they want. They'll never be in power, but this isn't the case for the Conservatives. We have to be responsible," said Matte, who is the mayor of Senneterre, a town with 3,300 residents, nearly all French-speaking Québécois, about 60 kilometres from Val d'Or.

Matte said the Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, has been more visible in the North than other prime ministers, citing his recent trip to Iqaluit. "And Harper's been to Kuujjuaq and hasn't even been to my town yet."

The Conservatives have also directly supported Nunavik, Matte said, by putting through the offshore agreement and recently approving $20-million more to expand broadband internet access in Nunavik.

"It's the Conservatives who did this. This proves that the Conservatives have truly taken Inuit into consideration, and the numbers show that," Matte said.

Liberals fight to keep the Cree and Inuit vote

Liberal candidate Canada, a fluently bilingual construction and civil engineering consultant from Lac Malartic, was recruited to run as the Liberal candidate at the last minute.

In the last federal election, seven in 10 Nunavimmiut voted Liberal. Canada said he hopes to build on that traditional support Oct. 14.

Canada, who worked for 20 years in the James Bay region, is unfamiliar with Nunavik, but he wants to change that, vowing "I'm going to fight for you guys" if elected.

If the Liberals form the new government, Dion will enact all the commitments in Kelowna accord within six months, he said.

"That's $1 billion annually. The Conservatives scrapped that commitment. How many other things are they going to scrap?" Canada asked.

With many Inuit working as artists, Conservative cuts to arts programs should be a concern to Nunavimmiut, Canada said.

Also worrisome are the Conservative government's plans to toughen up punishment for youth crime and ban conditional sentences for 30 offences, such as robbery and arson, weapons offences, home invasion, drug trafficking, he said.

Bloc takes on Conservatives, Liberals

The Bloc Québécois incumbent, Yvon Lévesque, who comes from Val d'Or, has visited Nunavik on many occasions, where he's tried to forge connections with Nunavimmiut, despite a lack of fluency in English.

After some missteps (such as mistakenly arriving in Kangiqsualujjuaq instead of Kangiqsujuaq), Lévesque now demonstrates a much better grasp of the issues facing Nunavik.

Lévesque said he's been a strong supporter of more self-government for Nunavik and has tried to open up more communication between Inuit and their Naskapi neighbours, whose hunting and fishing grounds lie within the future Nunavik territory.

"I didn't want them to have a never-ending battle like we've seen between Quebec and Canada," Lévesque said.

As for concrete results, Lévesque pointed to his success in fighting for more social housing construction in Nunavik.

But, when asked if this will transform into more Bloc votes from Inuit in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou, Lévesque said he's not "dreaming in colour."

"For more than 100 years, Inuit have dealt with only two national parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives. But, in spite of all the nice presents from the Conservatives, I don't think Inuit will let themselves be influenced," he said, promising the nationalist Bloc party will continue to promote the rights of all citizens of Quebec.

Greens and NDPs also on the ballot

Patrick Rancourt, the Green Party candidate and student activist, said on the Green Party website that he's running for MP in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou to change the world. "Influence events, go and vote" is his message.

Erica Martin, the NDP candidate in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou, takes swipes at the Conservatives on the NDP website and urges voters to support her because NDP leader Jack Layton will be "the Prime Minister who'll put me and my family first."

In the last federal election, the Greens took 4.1 per cent of the vote in Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou and the NDP 6.1 per cent of the vote.