Akesuk apologizes

“I apologize to the people of Nunavut and to the members of the legislature for not reporting what I was supposed to report to the integrity commissioner,” South Baffin MLA Olayuk Akesuk told the legislative assembly last Friday.

In June, Nunavut’s Integrity Commissioner, Robert Stanbury, found that Akesuk twice violated the Integrity Act by failing to disclose a debt of more than $10,000 to the municipality of Cape Dorset for rent on a social housing unit he once occupied.

The apology was part of a list of recommendations Stanbury made at the time. Last week, the legislative assembly voted to accept all of Stanbury’s recommendations.

Among these, Stanbury recommended that Akesuk hold public meetings in his constituency to apologize to voters, and that he send a letter of apology to all of his constituents.