Curley to campaign on Rankin’s revival

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Tagak Curley has emerged from Nunavut’s political past in hopes of changing its future.

Earlier this week, the 59-year-old founding president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, chief negotiator for the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, and a former minister of economic development in the Government of the Northwest Territories, ended more than a decade out of politics when he filed his application to run for the territorial seat in Rankin Inlet North.

And he’s returned with promises of resurrecting Rankin Inlet.

In Curley’s view, the Government of Nunavut has neglected Rankin Inlet, letting it slip into a state of economic decay. He said the steady exodus of jobs and services – such as the Nunavut Housing Corp. and Arctic College headquarters – over the past 10 years marks how the community has lost status in the territory.

“People that I know desperately, desperately want me to run,” Curley said. “So it’s time, Rankin needs to be rebuilt. It’s been in decline and hasn’t grown. And it needs serious representation.”

Curley admitted he hesitated to re-enter politics, and was coy about his intentions to run until now. But, aside from Rankin Inlet’s local struggles, he said a lack of senior leadership in the last government, and the inclusion of protection for homosexuals in the Nunavut Human Rights Act pushed him back into politics.

Curley, a high-profile critic of the Human Rights Act, opposes the protection of Nunavummiut on the grounds of sexual orientation because he says the term “sexual orientation” is not defined. Moreover, he suggests that its use in legislation threatens the culture and morality of the territory.

“We’re giving a special category, apparently, of certain rights that are not defined, that are very … discrete, you don’t know what it means,” he said in an interview. “But if you believe in your Creator, in your God, what does he say about those things? Is that acceptable to God?”

Asked how his commitment to religion would affect his campaign, Curley said he expects it would increase his support because voters would be assured of getting an MLA free of vices like greed and ego.

“My faith and my life are completely inseparable,” he said.

Despite citing the Human Rights Act as a reason to run in the election, Curley said voters are more concerned about bread-and-butter issues, including jobs and local services.

To reverse Rankin Inlet’s economic decline, Curley is campaigning to improve marine infrastructure with docks and start an educational centre to teach trades like electricity and plumbing to local residents. Both would be a boon for the construction industry, Curley argues, and would return Rankin Inlet to its former status as a regional transportation and services hub.

“Strategically, Rankin is a good central location for Nunavut, providing services not just for communities but for Nunavut as a whole,” he said.

Beyond the Rankin renaissance, Curley also hopes to tackle pan-territorial problems, such as the government’s shrinking resources. To meet infrastructure needs without going into debt, Curley said Nunavut will have to turn to the private sector to start financing capital projects. Streamlining the application process for mining companies will also be key to Nunavut’s future prosperity, he said.

“Sometimes, I think we spend too much time talking about how we’re going to plan, that some of the potential investors don’t bother [with Nunavut] and go elsewhere,” said Curley, who as president of Nunavut Construction Corp., oversaw the completion of more than $100 million in government infrastructure throughout Nunavut.

Although critical of leadership in the last government, Curley declined to confirm whether he wants to become the next premier of Nunavut. That can only be decided if he is elected, he said.

However, Curley expects the “lack of seniority” in the last government will lead to changes in the next.

“I think you will see a whole lot more of depth of representation from Nunavut, not just business experience, or financial whatever, or non-Inuit, but people who are really rooted in their culture and their communities,” Curley said. “Because a lot more people will be running who are not directed just by ambition – pure political ambition – but by issues.”