Nunavik may be denied Quebec assembly seat

AUPALUK — High-ranking government officials and politicians in Quebec have promised time and again that Nunavik will get its own provincial seat in the National Assembly.

But now it looks like those pledges were simply empty words.

In mid-December the Commission de la représentation du Québec presented a preliminary report to the National Assembly in which it proposed a set of new electoral divisions for Quebec.

And there was no new provincial riding for Nunavik.

The electoral commission actually proposed enlarging the present district of Ungava instead of dividing it up and creating a new, smaller district for Nunavik.

At their meeting last week in Aupaluk, the Kativik Regional Government councillors called for “a distinct electoral division” in Nunavik.

And they passed a resolution recalling a commitment made by the minister of native affairs, Guy Chevrette, that his government would carve out an electoral district for Nunavik.

Nunavik has no separate federal riding, either, but is lumped in with a huge Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik riding.

“I feel this is quite important,” KRG chairman Johnny Adams said. “We need representation in both governments.”

If Nunavik and James Bay were included in one new provincial riding, the riding would in fact have more voters than other ridings in Quebec.

As it stands now, there are approximately 26,500 eligible voters in Quebec’s Ungava riding.

The electoral commission wants to add more communities in the South. If this happened, the new Ungava district would gain around 700 new voters.

The southern portion of Ungava, which includes the communities of Chibougamou, Chapais, Matagami and Quevillion, is predominately French-speaking and has in the past strongly supported the PQ.

The northern portion of Ungava, however, which includes the Cree and Inuit communities, has around 11,000 potential voters who have traditionally supported Liberal Party candidates.