Looking back at MLAs in action, and an MP’s inaction

There was plenty of political news to go around this week, as we saw Nunavut politicians in action at the legislature and a Nunavut politician’s inaction in Ottawa.

John Main emerged as the territory’s new premier Tuesday when MLAs went through Nunavut’s leadership forum, a nearly unique exercise in Canadian politics.

A day earlier, Nunavut’s federal representative Lori Idlout helped Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government pass its budget — and avoid a House of Commons defeat — by abstaining from a crucial vote.

Main’s election appears to be a good move for Nunavut; Idlout’s abstention continues to remain a head-scratcher.

Readers will remember Main as the health minister in the previous government whose steady hand, along with then-chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson’s, helped guide the territory through the COVID-19 crisis.

The veteran MLA brings plenty of experience to the premier’s office.

Dennis Patterson, a former Nunavut senator and a former premier of the Northwest Territories, makes the case that this legislative assembly is already off to a smoother start than the previous one.

Patterson, an astute observer of politics, has been writing his Arctic Matters column since retiring from Parliament’s upper house.

Main’s election signals that the MLAs elected in October are starting their term with a “goodwill and respect” that eluded the previous assembly four years ago.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, there was at least a degree of goodwill (if not respect) when the House of Commons voted on the federal Liberal government’s budget.

In a keep-them-guessing move, Idlout did not vote for the budget, nor did she vote against it, which would have inched the Liberals closer to a parliamentary defeat that likely would have triggered a federal election.

She abstained, ignoring the free advice offered in an editorial two weeks ago, urging her and other New Democrats to take a stand because Canadians don’t elect MPs to go to Ottawa and sit on their hands.

Her logic is a bit confusing.

The day after the high-stakes Commons drama, Idlout told Nunatsiaq News she abstained because there were some things in the budget her constituents like. You’ll recall that immediately after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne delivered the budget Nov. 4, the seven-member NDP caucus wouldn’t say whether they would vote for it, against it, or abstain. They wanted time to consult the people they represent.

If the people like elements of the budget, you’d wonder why an MP wouldn’t vote in favour of it.

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On an unrelated note, congratulations are due to Kenn Harper, our own historian whose Taissumani columns appear every other week in Nunatsiaq News. He recently received the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Louie Kamookak Medal. It’s an award given to people or organizations who have furthered our understanding of Canada’s geography.

You can read about the award on page 11 of this week’s paper, and in this week’s Taissumani, Kenn explains who Louie Kamookak was. It’s online now and will be in the paper on Nov. 28.

Congratulations, Kenn!