Nunavik needs own seat in Parliament

My message to Nunavik voters: I have trouble understanding why the Inuit people in Nunavik don’t have a voice in Quebec’s National Assembly or in Ottawa.

During the recent federal election, a separatist Bloc Québécois candidate from Val d’Or, over 1,000 km away from any Nunavik community, won the Nunavik-Eyou seat.

This elected candidate knows nothing about Inuit culture and tradition. Nunavik is the fastest growing area in Quebec and needs local representation in both the federal and provincial cabinet.

If the American government can build roads into the most northern towns in Alaska, then I am sure our government can do the same in Nunavik to help bring down the costs of transport and travelling. How can such decisions be made if there is nobody to represent the needs of Nunavik?

My message to the people of Nunavik is that they should wake up and fight for a voice in Ottawa and Quebec City and push both goverments to create a riding for the Inuit of northern Quebec so they can make their own decisions and not have a stranger in Val d’Or make them feel well-represented when everyone knows that’s a lie.

James Charron
Montreal