Idlout plans change of ‘tone’ when she returns to Parliament
Nunavut MP’s re-election one of just 7 wins for NDP across Canada as party loses official status in House of Commons
NDP MP Lori Idlout speaks in front of her house in Iqaluit after winning re-election for Nunavut’s only seat in the House of Commons. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Lori Idlout, the re-elected member of Parliament for Nunavut, is vowing to be more “aggressive” after holding onto her seat in a close election Monday.
She made the assertion as Monday’s national election results created turmoil for the NDP.
It took until Tuesday afternoon before Elections Canada reported results from all 66 of Nunavut’s polls, confirming Idlout’s victory with a 77-vote margin over Liberal Kilikvak Kabloona.
“I am very humbled,” Idlout said of her re-election, shortly after the results were announced.
On Monday, Idlout held the lead throughout the longer-than-usual vote counting. She finished with 2,945 votes, ahead of Kabloona with 2,868 votes. Conservative James T. Arreak was in third with 2,055 votes.
Idlout’s re-election to the seat she won in 2021 is the third consecutive victory for the NDP in the territory that Idlout has claimed as her party’s “stronghold.”
But Nunavut was one of the rare wins for New Democrats in this election. The NDP caucus is projected to be reduced from 24 to just seven seats — five short of the number needed to keep official party status in the House of Commons, according to Elections Canada’s unofficial results.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was one of the party’s members who lost his seat and announced late Monday he will quit as party leader as soon as an interim successor is named.
Idlout said she is “not considering at all running for leadership.”
“I think I’m definitely going to have some difficult conversations with my fellow caucus members,” Idlout said of her party’s upcoming leadership contest.
She said with her party’s role shrinking, she will have to work harder to “demand rather than just ask questions” in the House of Commons.
“My voice needs to change, my tone needs to change, I think that I’ve heard loud and clearly,” Idlout said, adding she will be more “aggressive” and “pointed” in her work for Nunavut.
Idlout has already received a call from her Conservative rival, who congratulated her on the win. Kabloona also congratulated Idlout on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, once the riding’s final results were released.
“I’m just hoping that she can find a way to speak up even though her party status and influence in the House of Commons have unfortunately been greatly reduced,” Arreak said in a phone call with Nunatsiaq News.
But Arreak also said he would ask for a recount of ballots because there were “questionable issues” that came up.
“I was told that there were spoiled ballots that were voted for me that weren’t counted,” he said
A judicial recount is required in very tight races where the two leading candidates receive the same number of votes or the difference is one-thousandth of the total votes cast. For Nunavut, that would be roughly eight votes.
Any elector or candidate can also ask for a recount within four days of validation of the result. Arreak said he would like to go through the process.
“We need to make sure that this is a fair and objective election,” he said.
Idlout’s campaign hasn’t seen any issues with the tabulation of the votes, but if the recount is started they would have no choice but to accept the results, Idlout said.
“That’s part of what the democracy looks like,” she said.
Kabloona didn’t respond to a request for comment.
I wonder when Lori will pose these “pointed” questions to the government? As her party has no ‘status’ she will be granted vanishingly little opportunity in question period, and that by the grace of the speaker. Annoy the Liberals too much and she’ll enjoy even less.
She won’t have to worry about her tone without official party status. Might as well be independent.
Being aggressive is not my idea of what good representation looks like.
Aggressive? How you don’t have a party, so you don’t get to talk… so how are you going to serve Nunavut? What’s wrong with your people voting her in again, we all knew NDP wasn’t going to do well, and now you have a Voted in a Mute. So silly.
Cross the floor already. Bring NU into the government it needs.
Sure, as long as her hubby stays with the NDP.
Being loud and aggressive is how weak people think strength looks.
It is sure going to be hard to be louder or even speak at all when you are not part of an official party. It might be a better option to cross the floor and join an official party if Nunavut wants a seat at the table.
Why wasn’t she loud and aggressive the last term? From when i watched her in QP, she was the quietist MP out of all of em. She needs to resign for the better of NU.
She was elected literally 2 days ago by Nunavut. So a little early to be calling for her resignation… even if you didnt vote for her (i didnt). It is the process and she is who we have. Now lets support her and let her do her best for Nunavut that she can. And come the next election if she didnt do enough we have another opportunity to vote for someone else.
Winning by 77 votes isn’t exactly a strong mandate in a jurisdiction with a 30% turnout…she was ineffective last term and will be even less effective this time around. Better to cross the floor and join the Liberals.
Why Electing an NDP Candidate in Nunavut Was the Wrong Decision
In the 2025 federal election, Nunavummiut made a historic choice by electing an NDP candidate. While this decision may have been driven by a desire for change, accountability, or alignment with progressive values, it ultimately weakens Nunavut’s influence in Ottawa at a time when we need a strong voice more than ever.
The reality is that the NDP is no longer recognized as an official party in the House of Commons. This means they do not have the same rights, visibility, or privileges as official party members. Without party status, NDP MPs receive significantly reduced speaking time, are excluded from some critical committees, and have far less opportunity to shape legislation or influence debate.
This is not about partisanship—it’s about power and access. Nunavut now lacks a seat at the decision-making table, at a time when issues like housing, food security, Arctic sovereignty, infrastructure, and climate change demand urgent federal attention. Other territories and provinces are sending MPs who can speak from within government or from recognized parties that can formally hold government to account. We’ve sent someone who will be fighting to be heard at all.
We cannot afford to be sidelined. Nunavut deserves more than symbolic representation. We need an MP with real access, resources, and recognition—someone who can advocate effectively within the system, not from the margins of it.
This was written by chat gpt lmao
First, Arreak can certainly request a recount, but I’ve yet to see one where they magically find 1,000 votes. Second, Kabloona not responding to a media request and sending congrats over Facebook tells me a little something about her. You lost, you suck it up for a day and call the winner and talk to media.
Third, last time I checked, the Liberals don’t have a majority. That means Idlout and her other NDP remnants have some power in the upcoming parliamentary session. The Liberals need their votes. So if I was her, I’d be putting together a big damn demand list for her support.
Seems like that would put her in a better position than being just another in the 130 or so backbenchers this government will have..
James was ROBBED! He totally won the election! Not!
Can you imagine the wacko things he would have said in the House of Commons if he had been elected as an MP?
Nunavut definitely picked the wrong horse.
Disappointing.
Because the liberals have a minority they will require partnerships with Bloc and NDP and even the green party to boost their agenda. A minority government is important because now the Liberals have to “play nice” with others in order to push back the conservatives. whether that’s good or not its how its done.
Also, a recount for James? like is he saying there were 800-900 spoiled ballots? how insane of an accusation is that? He does not understand how hard it is to work an election like this and how little people get paid to put up with the grief they get working polls.
“they will require partnerships with Bloc and NDP”
That should be “Bloc and/or NDP”, they don’t need both. It could also be a bit of a game of chicken, would either the Bloc or the NDP risk holding up the intentions of an elected government, or risk triggering a new election which could result in a Conservative government?
Do you think any of the decision makers truly listen to the Nunavut MP anyway? I dont think so.
If you have a kid in your house saying they want pizza for supper. And you had already planed to have pizza for supper before they said anything did they make you have pizza for supper? You would say they did to make the kid feel listened to so that maybe they will clean their room later.
A little funny with your name being Hunter.
Last Liberal MP was very disappointing. haha
I nailed it, 4 more years Lori, 4 more years, I told you all.
“I was told that there were spoiled ballots that were voted for me that weren’t counted,”… Take the L James.
Lori, you can scream all you want but make it scream like an angry Karen or something to keep it entertaining for us in the back.
Kilikvak. Maybe it’s time to rethink running in any elections, you’re like 0-2
NDP will have a voice as the Liberals need them to stay in power.
Let’s resist the lure of electing personalities.
Most comenters, should read, think, then comment, and not hide behind a fake name. Plenty of silly chickens in nunavut.
Ya I live with the fear of being criticized for my opinions (I am a self conscious person). But i still have them and sometimes (not always) there are some others that do as well.
Also in this day and age if you state an opinion online with your real name it could come back to bite you later in life. Even if your opinion changes.
You probably are the Brian Willoughby but dont know 100%. So whats the point.
Well, if there were any doubts Arreak was a Conservative, promoting a conspiracy theory that the election was rigged because he lost clears that up.
Well now that Lori is in power again, None Of It will get None of it, wtg people, you all didn’t help NU by getting her back in
We usually do.
These comments are wild; it’s bizarre how Nunavummiut seem to be obsessed with having an MP from the ruling party. I’ve lived in four other ridings, and never seen this attitude anywhere else. We should be electing the person who will do the best for Nunavut and the country, not just trying to get someone who’s on the winning team in order to increase our chances of sleazy patronage benefits. A government’s job is to serve all its people, regardless of how they voted — and sure, there are some examples of governments doing a bad job of that, but let’s hold governments to account if they target their own ridings for benefits instead of acting like it’s A-OK and we want in on it so badly that we think our MP should switch parties.
We’re these other ridings in cities/counties? Because the MP for nunavut is representing the entire territory, not a sliver of a city or county like the south
I seriously wonder if we just saw the death of the NDP this election.
At the very least they earned a new nickname; Nothing Done Party.
NDP has lost official party status. They will have no clout in the house. Lori should cross the floor to join the Liberals – and so should 2 pf her colleagues, to give the Liberals a majority.
It’s Rah-Rah for Nunavut’s NDP, MP to join Liberals, so they’ll have a majority to pass all what the Liberals want. (Don’t worry, even without, our heads will spin over the next 60 days, what’s dropping hard into place.)
More censorship on social media and independent media will be intentionally hard to find.
Food more expensive across Canada with more carbon taxes and new carbon border adjustment tax.
Destroy freedom for the unity of Canada, saying it’s for kindness. Don’t forget we saw the NDP’s bill in late fall too fine or jail Canadian citizens for speech. Watch it come back and wildly expanded. Churches go woke or pay taxes.
No oil or gas… It’s NET ZERO… Expensive green everything… more costly… more control.
Will Iqaluit now open the Safe Drinking house for the homeless a few MLAs talked about doing last year? Then is it to be expected, the mental gymnastics wording on the mind, government safe drugs supervised consumption sites will open in Nunavut? As they are in the majority of provinces and one territory?
What Nunavut needs is someone to strand tall against… not make our 15-minute prison.
Lori was a Liberal for the last 4 years, and now she has been elected again for 4 more years or until the liberals fall, by the way she will have a federal pension that will pay her over 2 million dollars over her lifetime , she can do whatever she wants, so stop complaining. Democracy at its best.
Being aggressive is good! It does not mean throwing pots and pans in the House of Commons. In the political sense, it means pushing harder for issues to force the governing party to listen and act on her ideas. So aggressive is ok in its literal and figurative ways!
The best thing for Nunavut right now is for Lori to walk across the aisle and join the Liberal Party governing Canada.
She should recognize the NDP have sunk.
It’s incredibly amusing watching all these Liberals encouraging Lori to cross the floor without ever explaining why.
It’s because they are sore losers. Located mostly in Iqaluit, they’re so used to believing they have a sense of what’s going on in Nunavut that it provokes a strong sense of dread amongst them to lose again.
The truth is they largely have very little connection with the rest of Nunavut, and the fact they keep losing to people they dismiss as parochial discombobulated them. Their friends and peers see them consistently wrong in their predictions, and this further frustrates them.
With each day that passes they grow increasingly desperate as they are forced to ensure the judgemental looks from their friends and colleagues. It’s driving them crazy and I’m here for it.
If Nunavut MP wants to serve, then she must work hard about the coming taxes on food. What the Prime Minister wants, to put more tax on food because if grown in a greenhouse or used fertilizer.
With the conservative leader now unelected, the Liberals cannot say it’s his fault. The Orange man bad Psyop has run its course, fizzling out, as the PM and Trump have been having “nice” phone calls and good buddy dinners together soon.
Next, learn from Wab Kinew, Manitoba Premier. Who is said to be an excellent pick for National NDP leader, who’ll grow the party back and who also speaks French. But will he accept?
Note what Wab is doing. Not renewing a couple of contracts for the supply of electricity 375 and 125 megawatts to the state of Minnesota. He’ll redirect north, then later 50 megs to Nunavut.
He’s also stating that Manitoba like Saskatchewan, Alberta and soon to join in Yukon, that Ottawa mistreats them.
If PM, Carney’s NetZero is to be implemented, meaning oil and minerals will stay in the ground. It will continue to grow the western separation movement fast.
Even Yukon has been saying they’ve been mistreated by Ottawa with the lack of infrastructure for their gold and Diamon resources.
Maybe liberal Baffin wants to stay, but will rest of Nunavut be interested to join the talks of separation with BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and NWT?
Quebec has given notice with their own separation growth movement.
Or will Nunavut be happy cozying up with the Liberal NetZero to build hundreds and hundreds of huge wind-turbines all over the land from Arviat to Rankin to Baker Lake to Cambridge? As is Nova Scotia doing for NetZero, building hundreds of highly government subsidised Wind Turbines for hydrogen supply.
Please don’t ever share anything on FB
Lori Idlout should represent the Nunavummiut people not a “party”. The disconnection from the issues the majority of people in Nunavut face is evident by the comments.
” We want change but don’t be aggressive about it just keep the status quo with minor adjustments to ensure my Iqaluit house valued at 1.5 Million keeps its value”. It’s this exact risk averse mentality that makes change in Nunavut so difficult. This was the Liberals election to lose, Carney made a visit and the liberals had considerable momentum. The conservative party ran an absolute horrible campaign and can never win Nunavut if they are willing to cling to fringe conspiracy theorists, the votes they lose likely go to the liberals. Even with that and low voter turnout the liberals still couldn’t win.
Remember Jody Wilson Raybould? Forget this walk across the isle garbage. Let Lori fight for the people not join some monolithic party. Loyalty to your constituents not to your party. Lest we become a clown show like those south of the border.
I am still skeptical of Lori, but I believe our concerns will be heard. The liberal party wouldn’t be coming to Kabloona for her advice anyways she would just be another cog in the machine. Carney understands the importance of the North we shouldn’t have to worry about significant investment over these next couple years. Lori will hopefully ensure the actual people of our communities get something out of it.
Lori is not someone Carney should take as a source of sage wisdom about Nunavut’s needs.
“vowing to be more “aggressive” after holding onto her seat”
Does this mean she will accept that she is OUR MP regardless of color ?