Kilabuk campaigns on restraint, realism

Peter Kilabuk was finally ready to start some serious campaigning for re-election this week in Pangnirtung – something he’d put on hold shortly after the Nunavut election period was announced last month.

“I started handing out my pamphlets and posters, but an elder passed away, and because of the first death, I put my campaign on hold, and then the avalanche tragedy came. It’s only today that things have settled down enough for me to be able to campaign again,” Kilabuk said in an interview from his home in Pangnirtung.

As MLA, Kilabuk also served as a member of cabinet and was, at different times, minister of sustainable development; education; culture, language, elders and youth; and community government.

Kilabuk is banking on his experience to help his re-election effort. His pamphlet bears the message “Let’s continue what we’ve started. There is no need to go back to Square One. Together we can make it happen.”

“When they open it, they are able to see my priority areas which I want to focus on … the right hand side has some of my more obvious accomplishments that I either initiated or supported during my term,” Kilabuk said.

Restraint is the key to Kilabuk’s priorities for the future.

That’s because Kilabuk feels he has a clear and realistic idea of what can be done.

If re-elected, Kilabuk said he would be committed to continuing support for social programs, particularly for youth and elders, but he’s already warning voters that “the next four years of the government will be with very tight finances.”

“My campaign stems strictly from honest, factual information. I’m not making any promises. I can only work hard to try and help my constituents,” he said.

Even so, Kilabuk said he will work on making sure the air strip moves from its present location in the centre of the community.

“It would free up a lot of good land. We have no more room for buildings and also it would reduce a lot of safety concerns. It would help the major airline bring in more new and modern aircraft,” he said.

The favoured site for a new airstrip is on the hill overlooking town – and Kilabuk said he’s lobbying Ottawa to cover the relocation costs.

“There’s a better chance than there ever was,” he said. “It definitely requires federal money because it would cost too much.”

The planned construction of a new health centre will free up the old nursing station, which Kilabuk sees down the road as a potential home for the community’s social groups.

Kilabuk will also seek an extension of the existing breakwaters for fishing boats, more housing and renovation programs, more money and business for the community’s fishing and crafts industries, as well as more training and assistance for the disabled.

Since 1999, Kilabuk said he’s been able to bring several improvements that benefit his constituents – a youth centre, a trail for hunters, a new fire hall, a new school bus, a new water and sewage treatment plant, more municipal vehicles, a portable preschool and an ice resurfacer for the hockey rink.

Kilabuk said a lot of money wasn’t needed to carry off all these improvements.

“It has been the realigning of existing infrastructure and programs and putting them together,” Kilabuk said.

However, Pangnirtung, population 1,500, is not one of Nunavut’s “have-not” communities. In addition to enviable scenery and rich natural resources, which sustain tourism and a local fishing industry, Pangnirtung also has 72 decentralized territorial government jobs.

“We’ve been very fortunate with the decentralized jobs. Most have been local hires,” Kilabuk said.

The GN jobs also meant 52 new staff housing units. By the end of this year, Pangnirtung will have also received 11 social housing units, both duplexes and single dwellings.

These all make for a solid platform, but Kilabuk said he’s not taking his re-election for granted.

“I have to take this as the underdog, to keep myself reminded that I shouldn’t overlook anything here. It’s too important of a position, so I’m taking it [the campaign] to heart,” he said.

However, Kilabuk’s tenure as MLA hasn’t all been rosy. He suffered through the education department’s failure to win support for Nunavut’s new education act and was then shuffled into a new department. Along with tough territorial portfolios, Kilabuk also had difficult family losses to deal with.

But Kilabuk said his learning curve is over.

“Because of the many twists and turns, the ups and downs, it was not until the third year that I was comfortable enough to give concrete information to my constituents about what I had learned,” he said. “It is a very difficult job, but one I dearly loved.”

Kilabuk said many constituents say they want him back as MLA and hope to see him return to cabinet, too. Others suggest he should seek the premiership.

But Kilabuk doesn’t want to discuss that option before the results of Feb. 16 are in.

“As everybody knows, the Number One priority is to get elected,” Kilabuk.

In this election, Kilabuk faces Simeonee Keenainak, who ran unsuccessfully against Kilabuk in the 1999 territorial election.

Keenainak is a noted accordion player, longtime RCMP constable and teacher. He also served as co-captain of 1998’s successful bowhead whale hunt.

Keenainak was hunting this week, and not available for an interview.

However, in the last campaign, Keenainak told the Nunatsiaq News being a policeman and teacher has given him insight into the cultural shock affecting Inuit in Nunavut.

“During the 20-some years I was with the RCMP, our culture was changing a lot. A lot of good things came in, a lot of sad things and a lot of questions,” he said.

Keenainak said his chief concern was how the Nunavut government would handle Inuit culture. He said he wanted the Nunavut government to draw on elders’ wisdom when drafting laws and policies. Leaders should look at the strengths of traditional child-rearing practices to tackle such problems as suicide.

“I used to read the suicide notes kids left behind and all of them said ‘no one loves me anymore,'” he said. “I talk to the elders a lot. I say, ‘why do we raise our children like a glass? Why do they break?”

“Culture should be put on the table. It’s our last chance. If we don’t put traditional knowledge into Nunavut, we’re going to lose it.”