Four vie for Tununiq seat

Residents of Pond Inlet will have four well-known candidates to choose from when they head to the polls Oct. 16 to elect a new member of the legislative assembly.

The election will fill the empty seat for Tunnuniq left by Jobie Nutarak, who died in a snowmobiling accident last April.

The candidates include James Arvaluk, Nunavut’s first education minister, and the former MLA for Nanulik, who resigned that seat in 2003 after he was convicted of assault in connection with an incident in Coral Harbour

Also in the race is Rhoda Arreak Cunningham, who was president of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce prior to the formation of Nunavut.

Sam Omik is a former board member of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and a past vice-president of the Baffin Regional Inuit Association.

He also ran for this seat in 2004, only to finish at bottom of the pack in a four-way race that Jobie Nutarak won.

Joseph Krimmerdjuar is a well-known interpreter.

Elligible voters may cast their ballots at the returning officer’s office from Oct. 2-12, or they can wait until election day on the 16th, when ballots will be cast in Pond Inlet’s community hall.

A mobile poll is also planned for housebound residents, and mail-in ballots are available for those away from home during election day.