Alikatuktuk returns to QIA’s top job

DENISE RIDEOUT

Thomasie Alikatuktuk and Malachi Arreak, familiar faces to Baffin residents, took the two top spots in this week’s Qikiqtani Inuit Association election.

On Dec. 9, Inuit beneficiaries in the Baffin region elected Alikatuktuk as QIA’s president and Arreak as vice-president.

Alikatuktuk will serve three years, while Arreak will serve two years.

There wasn’t much campaign hype in the weeks leading up to the election. But on voting day, snowstorms whipped through Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Kimmirut, making it difficult for voters to get to the polls. In those communities, less than 20 per cent of voters cast ballots.

But voter turnout was dismal in almost every community. Of the 7,625 beneficiaries eligible to vote for president, only 2,553, or 33 per cent, cast ballots.

QIA’s presidential winner, Thomasie Alikatuktuk, had been serving as the association’s interim president since September 2001. He grabbed 943 votes, beating out three other candidates.

Archie Angnakak of Iqaluit trailed behind with 756 votes. Elijah Erkloo, a Pond Inlet resident, got 422 votes, while Sam Omik, also of Pond Inlet, came in with 417 votes.

Alikatuktuk, a renowned artist from Pangnirtung, is the third president the Qikiqtani Inuit Association has seen in the last two years, a period marked by turmoil.

In the fall of 2000, QIA’s board of directors removed president Pauloosie Keyootak from office for violating QIA’s code of conduct. A year later, the board ousted Meeka Kilabuk, who had been elected to replace Keyootak as president.

QIA’s board then appointed Alikatuktuk to sit as interim president.

During that 15-month term, Alikatuktuk helped rebuild an organization that had nearly collapsed.

“When I was first appointed president, there was so much to do. I didn’t know where to start,” the 49-year-old said in an interview from his QIA office.

“Our organization hardly had any employees, only about six or seven.”

His first task was to staff QIA. He hired a new executive director and a financial officer, who in turn recruited more employees.

Now, the organization is fully staffed — and in a strong financial state. In 2001-02, QIA produced a $768,000 surplus.

“I think that’s what people noticed, that things have improved,” Alikatuktuk said. “That’s why they wanted me to continue that work. I was encouraged by the people of Baffin Island to continue my work.”

His strongest show of support came from his home town of Pangnirtung, where he got 172 votes. Beneficiaries in Sanikiluaq, Igloolik and Iqaluit also threw their support behind him.

With this week’s win, Alikatuktuk will sit as the association’s president for the next three years.

He plans to visit all nine Baffin communities to gauge how beneficiaries would like to see QIA improve, and he wants to tackle health and social problems in the region.

“One of the things I will do is look at the high cost of living. We never looked at that before, so I want to do that,” Alikatuktuk said.

“Inuit have almost lost their traditional way,” he added. “I want to try to get it back.”

Arreak wins as vice-president

Three candidates vied for vice-president.

Malachi Arreak toppled QIA’s acting vice-president, George Eckalook, to take that position.

Arreak, originally from Pond Inlet and now living in Iqaluit, took 937 votes. Eckalook, a Resolute Bay resident, got only 808 votes. The third candidate, Jaypeetee Qarpik of Pangnirtung, came in with 811 votes.

This is Arreak’s second job with Baffin’s Inuit organization. He worked at QIA’s predecessor, the Baffin Regional Inuit Association, as the chief lands and resources officer.

Arreak, 38, is an old hand at politics. He was the deputy chief negotiator with the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut on the Nunavut land claims agreement. He also played a major role in negotiating the Inuit impact and benefits agreement connected to the creation of Nunavut’s three national parks.

After watching how Baffin has lacked real leadership in recent years, Arreak decided to throw his hat into the race.

“I’ve waited for leadership in the region for quite a while and nothing seems to have happened. So my goal is to get things rolling again,” he said in an interview.

“I’d like to make sure that by the time I leave there’s definite long-term vision and plan for Inuit-owned lands,” Arreak added.

Inuit in the Baffin region also elected directors for nine communities. Cape Dorset’s new director is Ashevak Ezekiel; James Qillaq was elected in Clyde River; Hall Beach’s director is Timut Qamukaq; Igloolik voted for George Qulaut; Joshua Kango is the new director for Iqaluit; Tommy Evic will represent Pangnirtung, and Pond Inlet elected Jesse Nutarak.

Mikidjuk Kolola was acclaimed in Kimmirut, and Ross Pudluk was acclaimed in Resolute Bay.

The community board members will each serve for three years.