James Arreak is the Conservative candidate for Nunavut in the April 28 federal election. (Photo courtesy of the Conservative Party of Canada)
James Arreak running for Conservatives in Nunavut
QEC vice-president joins race for territory’s only seat in April 28 federal election
James Arreak, a Qulliq Energy Corp. vice-president, is the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate for Nunavut for the upcoming federal election.
Arreak’s name appeared on the Conservative’s candidates webpage over the weekend. On Monday, party communications department provided a photo of him.
Arreak has taken a leave of absence from his role as vice-president of corporate services at Nunavut’s electricity supplier, corporate policy director Tina Mandeya said. That leave follows the Government of Nunavut’s human resources policy relating to political activities, she said in an email.
According to Arreak’s LinkedIn profile, he has also served leadership roles as the executive director of the Coalition of Nunavut District Education Authorities, president of the Nunavut Economic Forum and CEO of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
In 2021, Arreak ran in Nunavut’s territorial election in Iqaluit-Tasiluk. He finished second in that race to incumbent MLA George Hickes.
Arreak could not be reached for comment Monday.
Three parties have named candidates hoping to win the territory when Nunavummiut head to the polls April 28, along with the rest of Canada.
Brennan Wauters is running for the Green Party in Nunavut, party spokesperson Rod Leggett said. The party has not released any other info about Wauters’ candidacy.
Incumbent MP Lori Idlout is seeking re-election as a candidate for the New Democratic Party. She was first elected to the position in 2021.
The Liberal Party of Canada has not named a candidate as of Monday afternoon.
Nominations for candidates in the federal election are open until April 7 according to Elections Canada.
Hopefully Nunavummiut will join the rest of the country in voting Liberal to keep Pierre Poilievre out of the Prime Minister’s office,
Huh, and I here I was hoping that all Canadians would join together to avoid another 4 years of the disaster that the Liberals have wrought. Silly me.
Nothing like fake likes to gaslight people
Mine was real.
Hopefully the rest of the country will vote Conservative to stop Liberals from continuing making empty promises and weak results, all at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer. – A lifelong liberal supporter
We don’t need Canadian version of Trump releasing our country, no thanks!
Exactly! Problem is we need a candadite in order to do that first.
You do not even know who you are voting for.
Right now Copycat Carney is plagiarizing the Conservative platform, he has no original ideas and once elected will bring back the Carbon Tax with another name.
Seriously one man cannot legally change the acts of Parliament in Canada, in other words what he did to put the consumer carbon tax to zero has violated Canada’s parliamentary system of governance. The Power has already gotten to Carneys head.
Carney isn’t “plagiarizing” anything. He’s eating Poilievre’s lunch.
I thought we would have to wait until we all lost the election to see the yappy attach dog catch the car.
PJ for the Liberals!
I wonder what’s taking the Liberals to announce Kilikvak Kabloona as their candidate?
James is the best candidate and would be a great representative for Nunavut in Parliament. Extremely knowledgeable and an all around nice guy.
He can’t even make any statement because PP put a gag order on everyone. So he will go along the party line, not have a voice at all.
The Prime Minister was in Iqaluit recently and announced funding for national defence, housing and other infrastructure. Unfortunately despite all the fanfare it turns out this was not new funding for any of it as it was previously announced in 2021.
New Prime Minister, same games.
Canada does not have a prime minister as far as I am concerned. The current custodian has not been elected to parliament. We will only have a prime minister after the election results later in the month. Vote wisely Nunavut. The ndp candidate was a disaster. James appears to be the best MP to represent Nunavut in Ottawa.
Ohhhh you mean the Liberal leader? This guy likely won’t win his “own” new riding.
James is a very kind and intelligent man, he has my vote!
Given the long history of the Conservative Party of Canada disregarding or even denigrating indigenous people and given their stance on LGBTQ rights, immigration, poverty and cutting services that people rely on, I’m surprised anyone in Nunavut would risk their reputation to run for them.
When someone runs for a morally bankrupt political party, they show their true colors and we won’t forget when it comes time for them to seek other offices in Nunavut.
Why would Nunavut want to be pro-immigration? Wouldn’t that directly counter the goal of Nunavut being a territory for Inuit?
Immigration is a federal responsibility, and immigration is important for Canada as we have an aging population and declining birth rate. Unless we can entice nurses and other healthcare professionals here, we are looking at bad results in elder care and health care.
Elder care and health care are a priority of Nunavut.
Immigration also brings in other skilled professions, builds a tax base and is a foundational value of Canada’s creation.
Nunavut can be a territory for and by Inuit, and can also value immigration and diversity. The two concepts aren’t mutually exclusive.
Oh so Canads isn’t using immigration to fill low skill entry level jobs like tim hortons? While a hundred thousand high quality Canadians leave to the USA every year?
Another one who hasn’t read or, can understand the Nunavut Agreement…
“Canada’s Aboriginals need to learn the value of hard work more than they need compensation for abuse suffered in Residential Schools.” – Pierre Poilievre
A correct and widely held opinion. What’s your point?
Only privileged colonizers hold that ugly view.
You dont speak for all of us(indigenous here), some of us work and would like to our taxes go down and not constantly supporting people who dont want to work
There are no colonizers in Canada. Haven’t been since 1867. There are just Canadians, living on Canadian soil.
Do get with the program.
I wonder why he apologized for those comments then? Should be easy to stand up to widely held opinions, no?
Thats exactly what Pierre Poilievre said. Fascist group in Canada loves this guy..
Just take a look around and judge for yourself!
he couldn’t provide comments, meaning he’s not allowed to speak, on the supreme leader Poilievre is allowed to speak. So no voice for Nunavutmuit. He will bring his and impose Pentecostal believes. I was right when I told my friends, that Cons will have someone who is a hard core Christian.
Amen, hard core Christian , we need change from JT mess trying to legalized every drug on the face of the earth.
James Arreak is a great person, but his choice of party to run for is absolutely awful. I am shocked that Arreak has chosen to align himself with Pierre Poilievre, who is clearly aligned with Donald Trump. (And Poilievre, like Trump, does not have Indigenous interests at heart.)
If James would have run for the Liberals or NDP or Greens, that would have been much better.
Trolls and keyboard warriors unite, tear James down, Lori 4 more years 4 more years, let the liberals tax us to death, but who pays taxes in Nunavut.
Alot of attacks from the liberals here, I haven’t forgotten the last 9 years, Vote Arreak
what happened for the last nine years?
As you haven’t been bothered to pay attention for the last decade, I don’t think it worth explaining it to you now Johnny.
Oh, do you mean:
Legalized cannabis
Medical assistance in dying
Jordan’s Principle funding for programming for at risk children
Inuit Child First Benefits
Child poverty reduced from 16.3 percent in 2015 to 9.9 percent in 2022
Decline in poverty rates for seniors
The Liberals have been very good to Nunavut. And I say this as someone who does not typically vote Liberal.
Yes the libs look like they’ve done us good, but step back, see whole picture, the dirty deeds far outweigh any perceived benefits
Really? Examples please.
first example is the deep sea ports were approved in the conservative era to increase economic development of the north. the were finished building in the Liberal era and everybody praised them for it. Meanwhile the libs had no involvement and actually voted against it.
Legalized Cannabis
Medical Assistance in Dying
Federal Dental Coverage
Child poverty, for instance, declined from 16.3 per cent in 2015 to 9.9 per cent in 2022
James may be intellegent and kind and all that stuff but the party he is running for is NOT the best one for Canada or Nunavut and especially for Inuit. The Conservatives don’t care one bit about Inuit or Indigenous people and their rights. Their leader keeps talking about the economy and using energy and natural resources to strengthing the economy. He keeps saying that it takes too long to access that energy and natural resources due to permitting and negotiations and that he is going to shorten that time by skipping it. Guess who those negotiations are with? Indigenous people through their treaties and land claims. The conservatives don’t give one care about Indigenous rights and will build pipelines and mines on Indigenous lands without proper negotiations. We will go back to days before reconciliation. Do we want that? As a Nunavut beneficiary I certainly don’t want that and I especially don’t want that for my children and grandchildren who are Nunavut beneficiaries also. I also don’t want AEM or other mines to be able to just open a mine without having to go through the proper consultations with the right boards or that will allow the mines to ignore entering into the proper agreements to provide the appropriate compensation for using our land because the Conservatives keep their promise to the the big rich people and allow them free reign on our rich land. This is because the only way the Conservatives would be able to keep their promises would be to create legislation which overrides treaties and land claims because those agreements mandate that negotiation and permitting which has created the time it takes. Also, much of land that the Conservatives has promised to allow access to is Indigenous land but they don’t seem to care. Perhaps people should start asking Conservatives about Indigenous rights and reconciliation? Maybe people don’t like the Liberals but they did do good things towards reconciliation.
Alaska is always republican state and doing much better than canada Territories. Explain that?
I have no interest in how Alaska does, I only care about how Canada is going to treat Inuit of Nunavut and how it will work towards fixing what it did to my family when they sent my parents to residtial school and forced our family before him to stop living their traditional lives. This country has a lot to make up for through reconciliation and it sure isn’t done yet so it better be ready to do it. The Conservatives certainly aren’t willing to even think about that but the Liberals have started that and they started that when they began taking the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heart, when they held the MMIWG and by implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. They have also promised to renew the Inuit Child First Program for at least a year but the Conservatives have not said anything about Inuit Children or any Indigenous Children at all. Come’on Inuit and Nunavumuit let’s make the proper vote and think about what is best for us.
Mitt are you that Dumb, Alaska is booming because they have massive infrastructure built there, paved highways, electrical grids, Huge docking areas, road to south, and last but not least , big fishery, and lots of resource development, and huge military bases, give me a break and do yourself a favor and go see it , where do you guys come from
Donald Trump d0esnt know it belongs to the US, he wanted to Annex it.
The indigenous peoples of Alaska are not doing as well as in Canada and no where near as good as in Greenland, their housing are like shacks and cabins, poor education system, their culture and language have declined so much compared to Canada.
Poor example to use but great for us to see so we do not make the same mistakes as our Alaskan neighbours.
Mike, where do you live, in a nice gov of Nunavut staff house, look around you clown, Inuit have been living in moldy shacks for decades, typical person that knows nothing, you trolls and keyboard warriors should do the work your paid to do, rather than spew garbage on these posts .
Inupiat and Yupiit whaling culture and their English is second to none in the Inuit world absolutely.
Alaska’s vote was 51% to 48%. that is hardly an easy win for Republicans.
To “That’s Not Enough”. Maybe you’ve forgotten, but it was Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who passed legislation to create Nunavut and at the same time implement the biggest land claim in Canadian history – which is the envy of indigenous peoples everywhere. Then Stephen Harper appointed the first Inuk cabinet Minister in history and committed to build the harbours in Pang and Pond Inlet and later a long awaited deep water port in Iqaluit. The Trudeau government did deliver devolution for Nunavut and several apologies, and a carbon tax which raised the price of almost everything. We need an MP who is fluent in Inuktitut and can have influence in either the next government or Official Opposition.
To ‘Really’ – Just because the Conservatives entered into them doesn’t mean they actually did anything about them. From what I remember they decided to make it very hard to actually enter into them (we had to create what is now ITK because they wouldn’t negotiate in the proper traditional way with us) and then when any agreements were completed so much needed to be done that they would try to put it back on the shelf. We now finally have devolution, FINALLY. That is something we wanted, as negotiators, from day 1. Something we faught for and insisted on. We got that from the Liberals. Also, the last time checked Lori is Inuk and fluent in Inuktitut. Since the Liberals haven’t offered a candidate for Nunavut yet then Lori is our best one since the Conservatives certainly are not the best choice. If only James had run for the Liberals then he would have been great but I guess his views are more rightwing.
Too much do you work for ELON MUSK.
A wider picture is needed. I will be voting for what is best for Canada, not for any ethnic group, region, or province or territory, but the country as a whole. If it is good for Canada as a whole, but bad for Nunavut, I will, with a clear conscience, vote for it.
You do need to understand and adapt – the days of ‘reconciliation’ are behind us and as a priority it is fading fast.
tax to death, ya the number of bodies all around Nunavut from paying too much taxes is disturbing!
Pierre Poilievre rallies are breaking Canadian political records with massive, enthusiastic crowds by the people.
They are not held in some small pub like you know, um, um, um who. Or using mirrors to make the crowd look bigger to show the party hasn’t evaporated into nothing yet. The party who wanted to jail you for speech.
Pierre is filling warehouses, airport hangers and even in the heart of Liberal territory. Because people know this is the most important election Canada has ever seen.
The rejection of authoritarianism and the rapid speed of technocratic order taking over Canada.
You do realize who this makes him look more like right? He just looks like a mini-Trump. He is talking his nonsense to airheads that really don’t care one bit. If those represent all of his supporters then that’s just fine. LOL 😂😂😂!!!
I’m curious, why are there a lot of Inuit that are religious and conservative? Just a question, not being threatening. The voters of this demographic typically have far right ideology that goes against indigenous/Inuit values or their culture. Religious was used to force assimilation with the cost of losing Inuit identity so, I’m curious. People can vote for they want, and respect to those who put their name forward but I’m trying to understand.
Conservatives isn’t my cup of tea, Nunavut is going to boom even more and more interest will come with international business so, vote in those who would actually respect the people of the north. They want the resources but cannot forget the Inuit, it’ll affect us all.
I hope it calms down too, we all live in the same place (earth) so, the divide between the politics need to stop.
Look up Stockholm Syndrome
Lack of education and thinking they know better, terrible combination, the Pentecostal community in Nunavut like to use their church as a way to control people and judge others, they have been colonized very well in this southern US religion and their views fit perfectly with the republicans and conservatives.
Even though there are too many of them here in Nunavut, thankfully there are more who do not support them. We are not as vocal as the cons/republicans supporters but there are more of us.
A vote for James Arreak is a vote for Pierre Poilievre. Remember this, from CBC: “Alberta Premier Danielle Smith came into the federal election campaign hoping her words would leave an
She wanted her points about oil and gas regulation, and her demands on pipeline approvals, to influence the conversation. Less so her weeks-old remarks to a Trump-friendly media outlet about a strategic Washington “pause” on tariffs to avoid boosting Liberal fortunes, and that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was “in sync” with the direction of Donald Trump.” A vote for Arreak is a. Ôte fir little Trump aka PP, leader of the Cons.m
Dude take a break from the internet and the firehose of nonsense your algorithm is feeding you. Social media is not news and is the worst source of information possible
bring it home!!!!!! axe the tax baby.
please note the current axe on tax is 100% cause of work of Conservatives ….NOT CARNEY.
9 yrs carbon tax is reason we paying so much!~
I am not voting for this Merican wanna be party, their leader looks up to Trump and their ideology so much it’s crazy so many are blindly supporting him, too much US influence for some people.
Canada strong! Vote ABC, no thank you Cons!
Go Kilikvak Go!!! Now that we have a Liberal candidate our choice should be an easy one. Four years of Liberal representation in Nunavut here we come, YES!!!
Read the room people, the liberal party is dead. Liberals will keep our territory weak and dependent on feds. The last 9 nine years screams for itself, incompetence! Corruption! While you look down your nose at conservatives we have taken stock of the past 9 years of liberal policies. For every step forward a dozen steps back taken.
This lame storyline from the Cons is getting old, we have never in Canada’s history received more new funds for Nunavut and the north! All kinds of new funding, hundreds of millions for Nunavut alone, replacing all the funding cuts that the Cons did when they were in power.
We have not forgotten how terrible it was under the Harper regime, we will not go back to that and I will be voting for Anything But Conservative.
What’s lamer than cons is the support libs still receive after their 3 term disaster. Sure the libs give free stuff, that’s pretty much all they’re good for. All the free stuff we got past 9 nine years and nothing to show for it. 45% still on welfare, crime rising, etc. ad nauseum. Every indicator of national well being has gone down under libs govt. But hey they give us free stuff. Either they love us or love keeping up dependent, and I’m not feeling the love.
Still sounds so lame, keep crying.
The liberals literally gave Nunavut power over its own lands so that it’s not dependent on the feds…
…Jordan’s principle funding (specialized programming for at risk children)
Inuit Child First Initiative (food for kids and programming)
No government has ever provided so much financial support to Nunavut.
Nunavuts total budget is from the Federal government a handout, big welfare check, to keep everyone working. No matter what party is in power Nunavut will continue to get this 3 billion dollar welfare check, and the feds just like to parade you around, and last but not least, Trump endorsed Carney for Prime minister, so nobody in NU. Should worry about what party is in Power, welfare will continue to pour into Nu.
We need a shake ip in Canada; if that means we have to drain the swamp, so be it.
From human-made climate nonsense, covidmania, government intrusion into all aspects of our lives – including our bedrooms, our bodies, and our society, enforced tribalism, terrible federal government with many other countries, and absurb levels of taxation and bureaucracy our society is rotting. No time in our history has been more detrimental to the well-being of Canadian society than the past ten years of Liberal Party corruption, incompetence and interference.
Since you worship at the altar of Trumpism so hard that you repeat the mantras, just move to the US already.
Bingo S.
Let’s say the Conservatives elected because it’s too big to rig, and the Conservatives gain a majority.
Will the Senate jump into action to tie Canada into turtle-speed knots, so little moves forward?
Of the 105 Senators, 93 appointed by the first Post-National State leader, Trudeau.
Sure, 41 Senators, plus Nunavut’s new Senator, tell us they belong to the politically independent Senate group — so, yup trust us.
All eyes must be on the Senate after the election, to watch if it’s working for Canadians or continuing the destruction of Canada.
Translation: “I can’t answer that question because I haven’t been told what exactly they’ve been doing wrong, only that I’m supposed to hate them.”
Get used to it, cons are gonna win. ABC = Always Be Conservative
Typical Con, Anything But Conservatives! There fixed it.
Not really, Umm. Take a look around, do we have power? Also, read the NLCA, the crown has final say on it all
…and nothing to show for it
Follow the liberal party cbc news network, liberal majority,kabloona will win, it’s between NDP and Cons for second place, 4 more weeks trolling .
Carney has my vote without question.
Democracy as we have it in Canada has several huge faults. The terms are short 4 years, there is little long term planning which would do us well (leaders scramble to gain majorities every four years). The 50% minus 1 vote can be dismissed; loyalty is to the party more than to the people whom politicians are supposedly representing. There is fault as well in that of the of the lobbyists, their influence (with the financial support) greatly influence political decisions, legislation, regulation. An alternative as is found in China where a mix of local and regional democracy combined with a single national party is both stable and responsive. China has become a world leader from its former state of poverty, there is the proof. It suits the Chinese people well; It would be difficult to bring a similar system to Canada with our parliamentary government history, and with the USA’s (corporate) undue unwanted influence in our affairs.
The subtle utopia walk towards Canada as China’s 24 Province becomes understandable China’s 100% tariff on Canola and 25% on pork and fisheries are kept out of the mainstream media.
As if who cares if China’s tariffs destroy the western provinces? Who want oil and prosperity, not wind turbines for poor health, unstable and expensive electricity. Only have TDS to the max.
Forget it was Joe Binden’s administration who were first concerned about Canada’s weak border and Canada’s no action on the increasing China’s Triads, money laundering, fentanyl/meth drug manufacturing and exporter to the world.
It’s clear why Pierre Plillieve packs in thousands upon thousands of all ages at his rallies across Canada. Close to 15,000 in Edmonton.
As Canada’s mainstream media keeps falling over themselves for you believe China is fine, we Canadians must suffer and USA to prosperity is bad.
There is freedom of the press, that is right but with the correction that it is freedom for those who own the press. Nunatsiaq News thankfully is one of a few publications that operate outside of that condition. You would need to be an idiot not the know that the 800 or so military bases that the US operates outside of the country are there only for benevolent reasons.
are not there for benovelent reasons…
Only candidate with real world experience. We need somebody who understands a 9-5 job, overtime, working weekends and on-call 24/7. The other candidates don’t have anything close to this or speak about this. We need to put the economy first or Nunavut will always be dependent on federal government handouts instead of being the wealthiest GDP jurisdiction in the country.
Stop you’re making too much sense. The Libs plan is to keep giving the needy free stuff, forget about building them up to not only independent, but a contributing player. Libs record is they’ve been most generous to Nunavut, but we’ve nothing to show for it. Cons history is that they balance the books after libs ruin economy.
I don’t want a preacher and a right winger to represent me at the House of Commons, American wanna be Cons and their party leader who looks up to Trump and the republicans is a big no thank you.
I want my Canada not to be anything like the Americans, majority of Canadians see this and the polls show the Liberals are in a healthy lead over the Cons, thank god for that, Canada strong!!
Get real ABC. Another lib term will be the final nail in canada’s coffin. Focus on needs, not wants.
youre right. canada is nothing like the US right now. its sinking. and its because of the last ten years of liberal idealogy! who are we paying the carbon tax to thats keeping the ice caps cold for us. no one. thyere getting rich off of your ignorance and the climate hasnt changed at all.
Climate has changed, but that’s not the point.
Lets have a poll
thumbs up Conservatives
thumbs down Liberals
No more hand outs for that. Can’t afford kids. Don’t have em! Money for infrastructure and build up of economy only
That is why the Liberal government has put more financial support for Nunavut and the north, no other government has ever gave more funding for infrastructure in Nunavut before, the Trump wanna be PP would take that away and start cutting all kinds of funds for Nunavut, Anything But Conservatives! ABC!
The Liberals NET ZERO mandate for green house gas emissions by 2050 as stated by Carney states one short haul flight permitted for every three years. That wont be very nice here in Iqaluit. 3 new pieces of clothing permitted per year, so you can cancel your amazon account that wont be needed anymore. And ppl still want to vote for this loony toon? XD
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/mps_bring_gay_rights_debate_to_iqaluit/
I am certain I don’t want you to represent me in Ottawa!
yea, but not everybody is gay. in fact the vast majority of the population isnt. if youre gay fine. we dont even need to talk about it and it shouldnt be tax payer funded. Get married and shut up, just like the rest of us.
conservative government paid for the deep sea ports and airports. they were finished while the liberals were in power not because of the liberals
Cons only signed the Nunavut Agreement at the last hour after decades of negotiations because Mulrony wanted his name on the document. He ONLY signed for that purpose.