Nunavik-Eeyou MP meets new constituents in Kuujjuaq

Since last June’s federal election, Nunavik has had a new member of Parliament to represent its interests in Ottawa — Yvon Lévèsque from the sovereignist Bloc Québécois party, who trounced the Abitibi-Eeyou-Nunavik riding’s incumbent Liberal MP, Guy St-Julien.

Last month Lévèsque made his first trip to Nunavik, spending two days in Kuujjuaq, where he toured the community, visiting the hospital, school, Makivik Corporation offices and meeting with the Kativik Regional Councillors.

“Unfortunately, I ran into the former MP as well,” Lévèsque said in an interview from Ottawa.

St-Julien was also in Kuujjuaq at the same time to meet with the regional councillors because the Kativik Regional Government has contracted St-Julien to work in Ottawa on files related to housing and infrastructure needs and other political issues in Nunavik.

“I asked them why they hired St-Julien when they had a MP already in place and who had made the effort to meet with them. They said he had contacts in the federal government. I said it’s no surprise he has contacts as he always took care of his friends,” Lévèsque said.

Lévèsque ran head on into St-Julien in the KRG building, where the two were introduced by the KRG’s assistant general manager Luc Harvey.

Lévèsque said St-Julien rudely refused to acknowledge his greeting him.

“If he wants me to work with him tomorrow morning, forget it. He could have been polite at the very least,” Lévèsque said,

Apart from this encounter, Lévèsque said he was very well received.

“The councillors were very courteous. I don’t think I’ll have trouble being accepted,” Lévèsque said. “I told people I understand they didn’t vote for me, but I’ll represent them to the best of my ability, that I’m here to answer their questions and help them. But I think that it’s not just by making promises that people will accept me — it’s by concrete actions.”

Lévèsque said he was impressed by a presentation of statistics that show the high cost of living in Nunavik. He said he plans to lobby the federal government to subsidize transportation costs in the region.

“I stood up in the House and reminded the government that it had paid four billion dollars to build and maintain roads in Canada, so why couldn’t it invest money into transportation in Nunavik? If I have to, I’ll present a bill to change this.”

It may be his first experience as an elected political official, but Lévèsque said he feels at ease in the House of Commons.

“I love it. I didn’t think I would enjoy it to this extent,” he said.

Nunavik’s new MP plans to visit Kuujjuaraapik in the near future. In the spring, he intends to attend Makivik’s annual general meeting.

The prospect of getting to know Nunavik and Nunavimmiut better doesn’t daunt Lévèsque.

“It’s a challenge, but I like to meet people who don’t know what to expect from you. It’s fun in a way,” he said.

To contact Yvon Lévèsque, call his office’s toll-free number at 1-888-824-2958 or e-mail him at LevesY0@parl.gc.ca.