Andrew Nakashuk prioritizes transparency in NTI presidential bid
Free access to country food and preservation of Inuit language rights are other platform priorities
Andrew Nakashuk, one of the four 2024 NTI presidential candidates, is a board member for the Pangnirtung hunters and trappers organization. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Nakashuk)
Online from Dec. 3 to 6, Nunatsiaq News is profiling each of the four candidates running in Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s Dec. 9 presidential election. The profiles will also appear in the Dec. 6 print edition.
Andrew Nakashuk says he is prioritizing “better communication and transparency” in his bid for the presidency of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. in the upcoming Nunavut-wide elections.
The Pangnirtung resident is vice-chairperson of Qulliq Energy Corp.’s board of directors and has been the chairperson for the Nunavut Planning Commission since 2016.
He previously ran for NTI president in 2021 but lost to Aluki Kotierk, who announced in October she is not running for a third term.
This year, Nakashuk is running against Jeremy Tunraluk, Cathy Towtongie, and Nicole Camphaug for the leadership role in NTI, the organization responsible for ensuring obligations made to Nunavut Inuit under the Nunavut Agreement are upheld. The election is set for Dec. 9.
Improving communication between NTI and its beneficiaries along with providing greater transparency in its funding and programs are key priorities, Nakashuk said in an interview with Nunatsiaq News.
This was based on feedback he received from community members when he chaired Nunavut-wide public hearings in 2017 and 2021 about Nunavut Land Use Plan proposals.
“When I was holding the public hearings, the Inuit that were there said that they needed more support, help and communication from Inuit organizations like NTI,” said Nakashuk.
Similar to his 2021 campaign, he continues to stress the need for NTI to use local radio or TV to reach Nunavummiut who are without internet or cell service.
He said Nunavut Inuit also raised the issue of balancing a stable wage-based economy with land and resource conservation during the public hearings.
“In the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, it does say that there is a need to protect the environment,” said Nakashuk, who is a member of the hamlet of Pangnirtung’s Parks Heritage sub-committee.
“But on top of that, we also need to make money out of mining.”
Nakashuk has been a board member with Pangnirtung’s hunters and trappers organization for the past two years and is a hunter himself. He said his organization purchases food from hunters and distributes it for free to the public.
If elected, Nakashuk said he wants to provide “purchasing support” to other hunters and trappers organizations to hunt to ensure all communities in Nunavut have free access to country food.
He said Inuktitut is his first language, and his knowledge of hunting came from his parents and their use of the language to describe life on the land.
“It’s not just about speaking Inuktitut but knowing the different names we call our hunting tools, techniques and the animals that are hunted,” he said.
Nakashuk has visited voters in Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak as part of his campaign and plans to visit voters on Baffin Island next.
All the best Andrew, I haven’t met you but your platform is sound and yu are well spoken. Good luck
I’m with #1, Harvesters needs more support, Good luck Andrew, You have My vote 🙂
Hto’s get a ton of money. The problem is with the board of directors spending it to benefit themselves and their own families. The boards don’t really understand what they’re supposed to be doing and these organizations are actually mandated to carry out a portion of the Nunavut agreement. Train the hunters and trappers associations to properly manage their resources and allocate it to the communities, not themselves.
I am absolutely with Mary, thanks fir bringing it up! HTO uses grants for harvesting and what I see in central nunavut is not what its mandated to be for the allocations if moneys ,should be for all harvesters and fishers ,not for the worker to be making false invoices and false testimonies to get the money i to their own accounts – happening way too often and the community wonders >”where” does the funding go ? Without much to show for .get it fixed for the “real” individual harvesters who feed the elders and citizens for peanuts -usually for a box of ammo or a tank of gas is all what hunters ask for — not needless spending for workers family members . Therefore I am votung for this candidate who knows what it is like being a hunter and fisherman and trapping alike . Good luck Andrew !!
I was under the impression that hto’s were underfunded? It this not true?
The last time I saw a hto budget, it was to the tune of 170k.
Lucky ! Certainly not in our jurisdiction of the hunters and trappers organization ! They never make up there minds and contunue on pilfering the funds with only “closed” meetings ,never transparent to the public and secretive to what is trying to be planned with what to do with the allocated funds ! Get transparent HTO and start involving the community in the organization ,ths is supposed to be a transparent organizatio to the pu luc but instead it has turned “private” –only for the elite members of ones famuly with all the authority guven to decide when will be the next meeting so they can get paid just to sit and wonder about else they can talk about . What a famuly conglomerate most hunters amd trappers are the further WEST you go in our territory. So much conflict of interest going on within tje organization .
I’ll stick to KFC, Micky D, Starbucks and pizza. Easy to find. Low price.
No need to risk myself obtaining food. Where’s the closest Food Court?
Sad told me years ago hunting is not going to be a viable way to live. Get skoll. Find job you like and work at it. Don’t expect/demand hand outs like the Nunavut residents of today.
Try to keep up with this century guys.
How sad lifeztyle ! That stuff has gmo’s , you know where it comes from ? Not me so surely i live off the land . That westetn food sticks to your insides ! Hunting is most viable way of staying pure and healthy in a clean environment away from all the exaust that is in the air. Most towns in the atctic dont have kfc’s ! Sorry i will have to say you must be in a city or you sad you never been taught about survival in a harsh territory where regular inuit hunters and harvesters do great and feed many. Dont risk going out without a guide….p.s. it gets cold so …stay inside and watch tv and have pizza. That stuff has many chemicals if you dont know. Some which can’t pronounce the stuff added , call it super processed . You put yourself more at risk of developing diabetes -of which there are several types of it and you are putting all that stuff into your body ? Not me .