Picco's departure attracts high-profile contenders

The territorial election is a wide open race in Iqaluit East, as Ed Picco's retirement from the Legislature means the three candidates have no incumbent to battle against.

Voters in the riding will choose among an array of alternatives: youth or experience, male or female, Inuit or non-Inuit.

All three candidates agree on one thing, though: it's time for a government with new energy and passion to get Nunavut back on track.

At 26, Kakki Peter is the young gun in this race. An artist with a theatre and computer background, Peter's political knowledge comes from four years as an editor with Hansard, the written record of debates and votes at the Nunavut legislature.

From what he's seen and heard, he feels "we're missing a lot of the bigger picture" by not learning from other jurisdictions. Specifically, he says northern Quebec and Greenland could provide valuable insights about how to protect and teach the indigenous language.

Nor should Nunavut "take a back seat," to the federal government as questions of sovereignty heat up. "What happens in the next couple of years will be critical," he says.

Peter is running because "I don't like complaining. I'd rather take action."

Besides, he adds, "I'm young. We need a voice for youth in the legislature."

If elected, he would make continuous communication with the constituency a priority, including regular riding meetings.

Iqaluit East includes Happy Valley, Tundra Valley, Tundra Ridge and Apex. A high proportion of voters are long-term residents in single-family dwellings, and the employment rate is relatively high.

Glenn Williams, who has lived in the north for 36 years, speaks Inuktitut at home. He has worked as an RCMP officer, and a wildlife officer for both federal and territorial governments, and currently for NTI.

Williams has served on the city council for the last eight years, and took a leave to run. He offers the most detailed platform of the three candidates, focusing on four issues.

He's passionate about addressing mental-health issues, especially the high suicide rate and high rates of drug and alcohol abuse.

There were seven suicides in Nunavut in September, he says, and "we're on track to hit over 30 this year. We're becoming overwhelmed, to the point of feeling helpless. Yet we don't hear our leadership addressing the issue."

Eighty per cent of crime in Nunavut is directly related to drug and alcohol abuse, says Williams.

"Yet we don't have a treatment centre in Nunavut. It's almost impossible to get treatment until you've been convicted of a crime. I want to recognize these issues and start addressing them."

On education, Williams notes Nunavut has the lowest high-school graduation rate in the country – about 30 per cent. "The Department of Education runs everything – and it appears they don't trust anybody other than the education bureaucrats."

Every year, says Williams, the Auditor General of Canada identifies inefficiencies and lack of accountability in the financial administration of the territorial government. "We need a complete review of how we deliver government services – and we need to make the corrections."

He also addresses leadership. "We have MLAs appointed to cabinet who have been convicted of serious criminal offences." Nunavut has a "dismal representation of women on boards and committees of government."

Some might consider Eva Aariak the heaviest hitter in this line-up of candidates. Originally from Arctic Bay, she has called Iqaluit home for 22 years.

Aariak served as Nunavut's first languages commissioner from 1999 to 2005. Her recommendations to the legislature planted the seeds for the recently passed Inuit Language Protection Act.

She has extensive experience with the public service, working on equal employment, public affairs, and training for successive governments during the transition from the GNWT to Nunavut.

For the last two years she has run her own store, Malikkaat, selling Inuit hand-crafted clothing, tools and art. She chaired the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce until stepping down to run.

Aariak's first priority would be making government more efficient and cost-effective.

"I hear a lot of discontent," she says. "That bothers me." It's time to re-evaluate, "to get a picture of where we are and what we need to improve."

Aariak says Nunavut needs employment training and economic development. "We need to cultivate industry."

To realize Nunavut's potential in a healthy way, she says, government needs to balance environment and economy, and to give young people transferable skills – so they can work for mining companies or government.

Improving social services would be Aariak's next priority. She says Nunavut needs to learn from how Inuit elders work within the family situation, and to train its own social workers, incorporating elders' cultural values.

Everything is connected, she says. Social service needs are related to a lack of housing. She agrees that Nunavut badly needs mental health workers and facilities.

"We're in a kind of a sad situation," says Aariak. "But I'm optimistic that by working together with all our community resources we can get somewhere. It's our land and our community. We can't wait for someone else to fix it."