Four-way race in Amittuq as Nunavummiut head to the polls

Nunatsiaq News is publishing riding profiles ahead of the Oct. 27 territorial election. Keep your eye on our website to learn more about who is running in your area.

Four Nunavummiut are vying to represent the Amittuq constituency.

Residents of Sanirajak and the southern portion of Igloolik have a choice between candidates Reena Irqittuq, Abraham Qammaniq, Paul Haulli and Roger Beaudry.

Incumbent Joelie Kaernerk announced he won’t run in the Oct. 27 election, after serving two terms.

Born and raised in Sanirajak, Reena Irqittuq is a liaison officer with Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. She can be heard on local radio in her role as an intermediary between the company and community members.

Among her priorities, she said, is strengthening supports for the riding’s youngest and oldest constituents.

“I’m running for stronger schools, protection for our elders, and to ensure Inuktitut remains the first language of our children,” Irqittuq said.

The riding’s average age is 24, according to statistics compiled by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Fewer than 15 per cent of its population graduated high school. More than 90 per cent speak Inuktitut.

Irqittuq first ran to be MLA in 2017, and lost to Kaernerk. Before that, she served two terms on hamlet council.

Abraham Qammaniq is a longtime board member of the Sanirajak Hunters and Trappers Association, where he helped secure a building, communal boat, and trail groomer.

He highlighted environmental concerns and said he has used his position with the association to caution against using the adjacent Foxe Basin as an industrial shipping route.

“That’s a big, big concern for us,” he said. 

Baffinland has long eyed Foxe Basin as a possible shipping route for iron ore if it were to construct a railway from its mine to Steensby Inlet.

The northern portion of the basin is a delicate ecosystem, marked by open water year-round surrounded by sea ice. Neighbouring Inuit communities depend on this resource for sustenance.

“Our area is famous for walrus meat. That is our hunting ground for walrus,” Qammaniq said.

Paul Haulli is no stranger to electoral politics, having served as mayor of Igloolik, Sanirajak and Pond Inlet. He also served a term as president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities.

Born and raised in Igloolik, Haulli has lived for 24 years in Sanirajak, where he worked as recreation co-ordinator, among other roles. He retired last spring.

Haulli says he is looking out for Nunavut’s smaller municipalities.

“I want these small communities to be recognized and seen — that we are part of Nunavut,” he said.

Roger Beaudry highlighted infrastructure and the importance of language in his bid for the Amittuq seat. Beaudry has served as chief economic development officer for the Hamlet of Sanirajak for more than five years.

Before that, he was a hamlet councillor, recreation co-ordinator and he also worked at Baffinland.

Beaudry moved North in 1985. He was a cook at the mine but later worked on the Distant Early Warning Line, which landed him in Sanirajak.

As part of his position with the Hamlet of Sanirajak, Beaudry championed several projects, including a building and funding for a Makerspace and drainage improvements that eliminated several large puddles, he said.

“At the moment, I’m working on a six-bay garage and it seems like this one’s going very well,” he said.

As a francophone, Beaudry said he understands the importance of speaking one’s first language in the workplace.

“My kids all speak Inuktitut,” he said.