MP Qaqqaq will run again
Nunavut member of Parliament says her re-election bid officially begins Tuesday
Nunavut’s member of Parliament, Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, seen in this August 2020 file photo, says she will seek a second term representing the territory in the House of Commons. (Nunatsiaq News file photo by Meagan Deuling)
Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq will seek a second term as the territory’s voice in the House of Commons, she says.
The rookie New Democrat announced on Twitter she and party leader Jagmeet Singh will participate in a Zoom meeting Tuesday night to talk about “our shared vision and goals, and to start my re-election campaign as the MP for Nunavut.”
Qaqqaq was first elected in the 2019 election.
In her first year as member of Parliament, she conducted a tour of housing across Nunavut. She has said she is working on a report about what she has called the “inhumane” conditions she discovered while on the tour.
Last October, Qaqqaq abruptly announced she was taking a leave of absence to deal with health issues. She returned early 2021 and disclosed the reason for the leave was to deal with mental-health issues, including anxiety, depression and burnout. In early January, she said she would finish her housing report “in the coming weeks.”
The date for the next federal election is uncertain. Because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won a minority government in 2019, they are able to govern as long as they get support from other parties in the House of Commons on certain key confidence votes. The NDP and Liberals reached an agreement in 2020 for New Democrats to support the Liberals in exchange for a Liberal pledge to extend the Canada emergency response benefit, a pandemic-relief measure, and to extend paid sick leave to Canadians.
In early January, Trudeau told reporters there was the possibility of a federal election in 2021, though his government’s preference was to continue working on getting the country through the pandemic.
I hope they put a statue of her on the four corners or maybe down by the bay pointing to the way of the future.
Qaqqaq please run again to share your great wisdom and life experiences. thank you for leading us through the covid outbreak.
“thank you for leading us through the covid outbreak.”
Is this a satire account?
It’s a troll shaped homunculus
I ask,,, what real-life experiences could a young woman share, that could enlighten us elders
Qaqqaq, I want to hear your wisdom. You stood out front of us to shield us from the virus. Please lead us again.
That’s odd….her re-election campaign kicks off Tuesday (tomorrow)…but no Federal Election has been called!
Does she know something the rest of us don’t know?
she has the wisdom to know the things. We all should support her as the great daughter of Nunavut.
Please attend a Polical school before trying again.
She has done so much for Nunavut and always out saving the day. Lets build this big statue!
Dear Nunatsiaq, can you please put the brakes on the excessive love spam, it’s fine to make a point but this is pure clutter.
Let more experienced public figure run ie. Tagak, Quassa, etc.
I hope Megan runs for the Liberals again, i’ll give her the vote I gave Mumilaaq
They did their part in making Nunavut a territory. Now it’s the young adults turn to make Nunavut a better place for Inuit and non-Inuit. Mumilaaq’s just starting, let her keep going, so we can she what she can do that the others couldn’t.
She better actually do something then if she wants to run again… Flying around for 10 months visiting and then being sick for 2 months hasn’t really shown the people that things are getting done… and don’t give me the it was all worth it, because everyone in Nunavut already knows housing here sucks and it doesn’t take flying around everywhere to see it. Frig I visit people (relatives) in the community everyday that live it and I’m not burnt out. The people living these conditions aren’t burnt out (it sucks but there is nothing better). She can’t handle the job time to move on to someone that does something – anything – hello.
No-one can put a finger on what this young lady actually is doing or has done. I know more about her because of her metal breakdown then what she has done.
Next on the agenda:
Why the education system sucks… fly around for 10 months. REPORT
Why there are not enough jobs… fly around for 10 months. REPORT
Why there are so many suicides… fly around for 10 months. REPORT
Eventually get out a report to sit on a shelf like every other report (what do you think will happen to this “housing report” that will “eventually” come about, that will say housing sucks?)
I want this job, we get to find out what we all already know.
You can do it!
Did she get her staffers (that she wanted to pay $85000 per year to) to flood the story with comments?
Arviat strong!
… and another $183,000 per annum. I’d “run” too … all the way to the proverbial Bank ! Unbelievable! The criticism here is well deserved.
I agree. I think that most of us reading these comments would like to be pulling in $182,600 as a starting salary. I think that there are other allowances and perks as well.
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Love the name “Old Mapper”!
$183,000 is not enough to her according to one of her posts, it’s been incredibly disappointing with the lack of productivity since she started.
I really can’t wait to see Nunavut represented by an MP that doesn’t constantly make everything about themselves.
We need an MP who is mature, politically literate, and able to form coalitions and work with others. Performing activist kabuki on twitter is not a serious political strategy.
I admit that I voiced support for giving Ms. Qaqqaq an opportunity to represent the people of Nunavut in the last election. I hoped that she would be able to bring her youth, vitality, and a new voice and outlook to both Nunavut and Ottawa.
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I hoped that representing the New Democrats she would bring a new political activism to the job, and maybe a new vision for the north. I had hoped to see the same spark that gave rise to someone like Tommy Douglas and his push for Medicare or Jack Layton’s passion for the working class and his push for a decent wage & working conditions.
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Now I don’t expect to see a first term Member of Parliament immediately stand out and compare to the greatness of the above gentlemen, but give me something to show that you have what it takes.
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Sadly during the greatest health crisis to hit the country and the world in the last century Ms. Qaqqaq has been nowhere to be seen.
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In her position I would have expected at least monthly discussions with the Premier, Minister of Health, and the GN Public Health Office, and her party leader Jagmeet Singh.
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I get that “fixing” the housing crisis is high on her agenda, what better way to illustrate the overcrowding than Arviat’s struggle to contain the coronavirus with 10 or 12 people to a house? Almost half the population being under 18, and probably the cause of so much asymptomatic spread.
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Smoking rates in Nunavut are the highest in the country, it is pretty easy to tie that into a respiratory disease that actually kills people in two weeks (versus years with cigarettes). Passing a joint around, not great if you have coronavirus, but hey drugs are rampant in every community.
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Can you tie in poverty & poor nutrition to poor medical outcomes? Look at the lack of medical services and how it originally took over 5 days to get results back on swab tests. Never mind that Nunavut had no real ventilators when Covid-19 started.
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How about the issues with education, lack of internet, lack of computers. Even teachers leaving for holidays and being unable to return without quarantine. A great example of how Nunavut needs to produce it’s own teachers, but why can’t it? (I know it’s territorial not federal, but it all comes down to money).
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And dare we mention the mental health issues, and how isolation affects youth suicide rates? All the other social ills that the virus and isolation just bring into a higher focus. Don’t even get the “Old” Trapper started on elder care, or lack of it in most communities.
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Heck the GN has to subsidize Canadian North and Calm Air just to maintain transportation of critical goods – because there are no roads anywhere in Nunavut.
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As others have pointed out no election has been called yet, and I doubt if Justin wants one called soon, seeing how the federal government with the aid of most provincial governments has so badly failed all citizens during the coronavirus crisis. Yes he has done some good, but I’m not going to forget 22,000+ dead, 860,000 infected, people in poverty and many business closed or just in financial ruin.
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A word to Ms. Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, if you want to get reelected you need to be making headlines every week in Nunatsiaq News showing how your are fighting for the people of Nunavut.
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Don’t start by saying that you want to get reelected, start by bringing Nunavut’s problems to our nation’s attention and demanding action. Now.
The problem is people did not see through her performance, the outside part of her performing as a politician but you didn’t see last that and see the inexperienced and lack of substance inside.
Hopefully people will take a closer look and also vote strategically.
We are truly missing out on the gravy train with the Liberal government spending.
I think you’ve made some good points here, but remember that Mumilaaq was an unknown commodity at the point of her election. We didn’t really see or have a grip on who she was and ultimately, she capitalized on a protest vote against the more traditional parties.
I don’t know if the Conservatives had much choice in going with Leona, but it wasn’t hard for anyone outside that bubble to see what was coming. Also, the sting of having our seat occupied by a ‘persona non-grata’ for four years turned enough people away from the liberals (whether that was deserved or not for the party) that it opened a wedge for the NDP.
Of course, Mumilaaq was a bit of a media darling at the time, and still is depending on the outlet (less so this one these days). I doubt she will win again but it is possible, if there is any lesson from the recent NTI election it is that an unpopular candidate can win in the absence of a compelling alternative and with a motivated core of support, even if it is small. Take note Liberals and Conservatives.
Aside from posting cute emojis on her Twitter page and stacking up duty travel per diems while taking pictures of the homes that we all already knew were in horrible shape, I ask myself what the hell has she done for Nunavut?
Well the last two MP’s were bust. Should we try a green one next?
Leona was actually a very good MP. She got a lot done for the North. Look at the infrastructure projects that were done (planned, completed, broke ground and/or funded) throughout her term (schools, health centers, airport improvements, hamlet buildings, CHARS, Nanisivik deep sea port, etc), and then look at what’s been done (nothing at all) since she left office.
I call bs on Leona, she was busy cutting funding for Nunavut supporting the Cons. We have not forgotten how terrible she was and her party. No thank you. She can continue reading her newspaper.
Did you even read Umingmak’s comment. or do you have blinders on as MQ has? It’s the one directly above yours. Leona and the Conservatives have provided more for the Nunavut than any person before or after. Please your supporters tell me what MQ has accomplished at the federal level other than dividing Inuit with her constant racist misinformation.
Yes Paul I read it and called bs as it is bs, most of us seen how the Cons did things and it set Nunavut back with all the funding cuts. You saw first hand with Leona being a distant third in the election, aside from a vocal few like yourself most of us will not vote for the Cons.
She will just read a newspaper when dealing with Nunavut issues, we don’t have short term memory issues like some of you. No thanks to Cons.
A vote for the green is a wasted vote !!
1. Edsby $1 million
2. Mummilaq $183,000
3. Edsby (cont)
You are in the middle of your prime Northern Store hangaround age. Don’t blow it on doing less.
I voted for Ms. Qaqqaq in the last election, but not again. She has proven herself to be far too naive, immature an unprepared for the rigors of political life. Nunavut needs and deserves an elected official that will actively and judiciously represent the Territory’s interests in Ottawa. Ms. Qaqqaq is NOT that person.
Her campaign begins because:
1. of the recent defeat of the NDP-lead Private Members Bill regarding universal pharmacare – some 35 yeas to 265 or so nays;
2. the continual badgering by the Conservative Party regarding fiscal pundue of the current minority government and their lack of a federal budget over the past two years;
3. the fact that a federal budget will be announced in the coming weeks, possibly in April (did everyone not see the recent Pre-Budget Consultation the federal government ran last month?).
For these 3 reasons, and probably more, we can expect the forthcoming budget to be defeated (lead by the Conservatives and topped up by the NDP), resulting in a lost-of-confidence of the current government and triggering an election.
The only saving grace for this current government could be a watered-down version of the NDP’s pharmacare vision in the Budget. If not, the voting-numbers are not on the side of the Liberals.
Let’s hope the Liberals and Conservatives both field good candidates, though I would vote for Megan this time around. That said, none of the parties are honestly that appealing.
In hindsight I should of voted for Megan, my mistake.
I seriously hope she does not get elected for a second term. She has accomplished nothing in her tenure as MP. Even worse, she has been non-existent on the COVID front.
I’ve also turned away from the NDP. I’ve been a loyal NDP supporter since I can remember. But Singh has been too divisive, and I see Qaqqaq playing that game. Her comments are often too divisive and leaning on protest activism work rather than elected official.
I feel like she ran because she was chasing fame/clout. She’s applied to be on Canada’s Amazing Race before, in partnership with Johnny Issaluk of all people. I think she just had a hunger to be someone on centre stage and didn’t realize the work that would go into being an MP, then she got elected and couldn’t handle the job.
I honestly hope Megan Lyall runs again for MP. She definitely will have my vote.
You’ve captured a lot of what I have been thinking. I voiced support for Mumilaaq early on too and gave her my vote; I was optimistic then but am not now. Reading her recent interviews with what can best be described as an obsequious and uncritical progressive-activist media, I see a young woman who is lost to crowd capture and intoxicated on the unconditional praise of her social media stardom. If the activist eco-sphere of Twitter were her constituency, she would handily win re-election.
Yet, as her admirers gush over the indispensability of her ‘voice,’ Nunavut becomes background noise and our issues minutia lost to her cosmic struggles against the evils of the Empire (In her TVO interview she compares herself to a character from Star Wars and Avatar). Now, contrast her time commitments above against her silence to the impacts of the pandemic, including the loss of life—not a single word of comfort—that have received no mention except when it seems useful to fan grievance.
I can’t think of anything that the current MP has championed during her time in office? She made an extended road trip to visit NU communities’ to observe & report on a housing crisis that everyone already knew existed. And yes! she made plenty of noise about colonialism & other Inuit hardship experiences… ok! so what came out of that? Then she took an extended mental health break due to ‘burnout, anxiety, etc’. It is probably in NU’s best interest to elect an MP that has the required acumen to get things accomplished at the fed level for Nunavummiut.
While she has been in office I noticed that she has a way with words, I will give her that, but she doesn’t really seem to really do or say anything.
She writes long public letters about the plight of the Inuit but she offers no solutions and doesn’t ever really say what she is looking for, or what we need.
If I were the premier I would ignore her, I am sure he has better things to do than try to figure out what she wants.
Oh Wow!.. These ugly negative people and their ugly thoughts. These people aren’t beneficiary of Inuit land claims, so they smear, spit and scratch. They want to always be the ones giving orders and have good positions in jobs. They come here and already they expect to be regarded as someone very very important. But we don’t even know them. I wish you best of luck Mumilaaq, You are young and beautiful. Don’t let these critical people discourage you and stay safe.?
I am a young Inuk beneficiary, born and raised in a small Nunavut community. My comment is an observation. You’re wrong in your vilifying assumption, I’m not a negative person or have ugly thoughts.
Yes, she is young and very beautiful, but those qualities do not make a good MP. She needs skill, education, experience and the mental capacity to be an MP.
Nunavut needs good representation in the House, someone who delivers results, not someone who’s only accomplishment so far is grandstanding and blowing smoke. Especially during these times and the coming years ahead as we transition to post-COVID life. The federal government will have a big role to play and they’ll be pumping on all cylinders to help the nation recover. We will need someone who can maneuver the federal playing field at this important time and provide Nunavut with needed federal supports.
So far Qaqqaq has done none of that.
You have hit the nail on the head. There has been not one solution offered by the MP. We can’t continue crying about the past unless we have suggestions to improve the future.
Some people say oh she is young, she is beautiful. That doesn’t cut it. We need stronger support from our MP.
Cry all you like, it won’t bring change. Bring solutions, listen to the experienced people in elected positions (Not Kenny). Nunavut is at a critical stance with hopefully the end of Covid coming soon the territory needs help. Baffinland has just offered to buy the Qikiqtani Region with promises of additional funds for NTI and QIA and promises of Daycares for everyone. Two months ago this was a company ready to shut down if it didn’t start making money now they are Kings. Our MP needs to constructively work with companies like Baffinland for the greater good of the territory not send a petition for people to sign. That is just destructive in my opinion.
This MP has only demonstrated that she is young and naïve, she needs to read the playbook and get with the times. The territory needed her when Covid started, she should have pushed the Liberal government support instead of killing the opportunities.
It’s time for Nunavut to have a voice and the only way is to be with the party in power. My vote will go that way when the time comes.
Nunavut has so much potential, lets find an MP who can make things happen for the people. We need to bring the ideas not expect the government in power to feed us automatically. Trudeau has promised the Indigenous but has failed in so many ways. We need to find the proper solution for NU and maybe it is a Liberal MP, PC or NDP but its someone who needs to take charge and lead us and bring back hope to people.
I wish the current MP well in her future endeavor’s. Sorry girl your had a run and it didn’t work out so well. You can’t disappear when people needed you most.
Good post. Many young people, and activists harbour the kind of naïve and cartoonish view of the world you’ve described here, a place filled with angels and demons as some put it. While this might make a marketable template for cheesy action films and dramas, the real world is a much more complex place and to get anywhere you need to bridge gaps and connect with others whose interests might seem quite different, and whose commonalities are not always be apparent to you.
i beg to differ. There are many Inuit voters who are disappointed with MQ’s total lack of action since taking on her position. Whining about the housing situation and colonialism is passe in politics. Pointing blame at others does not solve any problem.
“I wish you best of luck Mumilaaq, You are young and beautiful.”
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And…? That all you have? Any reason to actually vote for her other than “young” and “beautiful”?
Voted for you once. You took a tour of housing to get more first hand knowledge of just how bad the situation was but you neglected to meet with the Local Housing orgs, the Hamlet or the NHC. You came back with 0 constructive ideas on improvement other than to blame the Feds and colonial history. The time for us Inuit to cry about the past is over. Come with ideas to improve and come to sit at the table with all groups involved or get out.
You don’t have to be a beneficiary to vote in this riding, sorry that sucks so much for you.
I hope Ms. Qaqqaq will enjoy her arts world experience.
Was very happy to hear about the statue proposal! It would be nice to see her giant smile as I make my way to work. Sure hope city council makes this a top priority!
I’m pretty sure the statue suggestion was a joke.
Ms. Qaqqaq,
If you want to be re-elected you will have to show us your plan to resolve the housing crisis in Nunavut. It have be be a plan that we can believe in. It has to be more than “Otawa, send more money.”
While I think that there are many good comments above, I also think that people are being unfair. For example comparing this MP with an MP that was part of the governing party is not a fair comparison; one is in opposition and one is in government; their political tactics and achievements are bound to be different. I still have not heard of a concrete thing that an MP not in government has done for Nunavut. Anyone? Until I hear of something concrete it will be difficult to perceive comments above as a fair assessment .
I think you’ve made a very good and fair point here and one that needs to be considered, though it is not a compelling one for re-electing her either (granted, that may not have been the purpose of it). You’re right though, she is in a very difficult spot and the expectation that she will solve the housing crisis over the course of her tenure is impossibly high. That doesn’t mean she can’t help us progress though, but in a position such as hers it would take an exquisite ability to work with others and to create goodwill across the political divide. I see her doing the exact opposite of that, and that is why I currently hold out very little hope for her.
Steadily complaining and blaming bring some attention to issues such as housing, but let’s move forward from that to what is really needed … actual SOLUTIONS. Just a few ideas, as a start:
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Slow down the birth rate (will take pressure off the housing shortage)
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Increase graduation rates in post-secondary training programs (will qualify people for jobs with staff housing and real potential for home-ownership)
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Use shipping containers to build housing units, women’s/men’s shelters, community program facilities, etc
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Access funding (including federal funds) to improve housing, community infrastructure, other needed improvements — many times, there IS funding available that sadly is never accessed in NU because no one knows about it or because there is a lack of personnel to do the application.
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Many more …. come on, let’s have leadership that helps us get creative and proactive with actual SOLUTIONS!
dont forget the big statue of her on the 4 corners
Steel shipping containers are not a solution for housing in the North.
Housing solutions exist … I can personally vouch for that. I’m a homeless / housing insecure person of 65 years now. I have a solution and have had for years. The kind of solution that would easily see a thorough resolution of the Kitikmeots housing shortfalls within 5 years for example.
Recently I once again made what is likely to be my final attempt to contact ANYONE in Nunavut … just to say … I have a solution. It’s that simple.
But from the days of Paul Okalik to this day … No one answers e-mails … phone calls … I’ve built websites. 10 years ago my trails led me to Cam Bay. The response I got from the Hamlet was simply … it’s a lot to read?
To anyone who may be housing challenged in Nunavut .. I would say … not only are the ‘powers that be’ not pursuing solutions outside of hammering on the governments door .. but … there is no avenue open to someone like myself where I could simply put a solution on a desk somewhere … anywhere … and have it properly considered. None. The avenue does not exist.
Maybe it should … maybe doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is something to walk away from.
Just sayin
Did you try Polar Knowledge Canada? they might be able to help, they’re located in Cambridge as well and have a focus on housing.
Also, it’s of worth to those in government, but more so those at the ITK and DIO levels, to look at what was the Inuit Non Profit Housing Corp; and what they were able to achieve in the 1970s (before being cutout on bidding on future CMHC building contracts); over 90% Inuit in all facets of building (management, construction, finance), houses were constructed and in a workflow that was akin to Inuit
Begs the question why no more circular homes are left in any of the communities? Those designs that used to be at Nanisivik ,and those that were located behind the school area in Cambridge.
There are older, worse style homes still in-use, but seems every community has rid all the circular designs that once in many communities in what’s now Nunavut.
Solid points well made … and solid points well taken.
A point I would like to point at is … the list you provided were all of Gov’t or Gov’t like or related entities. Institutional and bureaucratic by nature in other words.
Not to disparage for sure … but … how to say this in context without a negative spin … … It has been my experience that Folks who have a bureaucratic nature and are actually capable of working in an institutional environment generally have a risk averse mindset to most things. Initially maybe not .. but eventually pretty much and absolutely not in all cases. Innovators on the other hand thrive in risk infested environments. The greater the challenge … the hairier the trail … the happier we be and that never goes away. Well … not until reading glasses show up anyway. But aside from that, our human natures and conditioning are ‘generally’ fundamentally polar opposites. Oil and water if you will. N’ere the twain shall meet.
Innovators are problem solvers / puzzle magnets / crazy things … they like to stick forks in electrical outlets / see the world differently / monkeys at heart. We make people nervous. And we love that.
My experience has been that most northern mindsets have inherent innovative dna. Not that everybody’s crazy ( well not not everybody at least … actually … hmm), but .. If you need to make tea and all you have is a dog collar and a rock it will be a kid from Kuggaruk that will manage to pull off a trick like that … and that young soul will bring a deliciously hot cup of tea to the offices in town and few will even notice because they’re on the phone trying to get some help making tea with …
I guess the point I’m trying to make is the challenges around housing / infrastructure / the economic posture facing Nunavut … and the North in general … and life in general … go far deeper than a better mouse trap. Anyone remotely close to the actual reality of the way of things would know this. Knowing this is easy. Knowing what exactly … not so easy. Knowing what to do about it … whole nother story.
Where it really stretches out is when you attempt to combine the better mousetrap … the how the *%# … and give ‘why’ your best shot you then end up with the … so ‘then what’ … bit.
I’m convinced that if solutions to these three components (what / how / and why) can occupy the same space, in the same place, at the same time … at the right time … a whole lot of Folks will sleep a whole lot better than they have in long … long time. Just take a bit of doing is all. And maybe with luck ‘what happens when you do that’ can turn into ‘what happened when we did that’ and it’s all good !!! … maybe lol.
That’s the thing. But in my ‘opinion’ … dictionary definition of opinion being ” a judgment held with confidence that falls short of fact ” … this is the time. Now is the time to get straightened out and mobilize. This time is an opportunity that needs to be seized. I’m certain of it. If not now then I am genuinely concerned that never might be in the mix and that beyond sucks. Can’t really go there myself.
Yet it’s going to take everything everybody’s got to make the grade … I’m sure of that too … with one last ‘but’ to toss in the mix ..
that’s the fun of it … no?
Just sayin
Post script …. as we near the day of one year beyond the passing of Bob Leonard grhs I’m reminded of a passage in a Nunatsiaq news article of the day that particularly stood out for me …
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Leonard managed to get projects like the community’s outdoor sports park going with “next to no help” from the Government of Nunavut, Anoee said.
“That is unheard of,” he said. “Bob gathered a team of very good people who can find other resources. His mentality was that you can’t just wait for something to come to you, you have to go and get it.”
Please don’t run again. We need someone better.