Nunavut Liberals seek influence over national party policy

MICHAELA RODRIGUE
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The Nunavut Liberal Association wants its voice heard when the Liberal Party of Canada’s policies are shaped, the association’s president says.

The new riding association is trying to beef up its presence throughout Nunavut, and at the same time beef up its political weight, says Wilf Wilcox, the Nunavut Liberal Association’s president.

“From a Nunavut perspective, we need to participate in establishing policies which are favourable to Nunavut,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said the new territorial association may lobby the party to form a taxation policy that takes northern residents into account .

“Other policies that already exist, but may not have a Nunavut perspective, we’d like to take a look at them and make sure that we’re factored in as a new association of the Liberal party,” Wilcox said.

“There’s hundreds and hundreds of policies that make up the Liberal Party. We’re the new guy on the block, and we have to stand up and be counted,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox could not explain what the association will ask for when it comes to tax policy, but he said it needs to be studied.

The new association’s predecessor, the Nunatsiaq riding association, was mostly visible during election years, Wilcox said.

But the new association is a territorial association and riding association combined, and wants to maintain its membership base during non-election years and remain in contact with Liberal headquarters in Ottawa.

The association also wants to attract members from across Nunavut, and not just in Rankin Inlet, which has been a traditional base of Liberal support for years.

Last month the new Nunavut association held its annual general meeting in Iqaluit, naming three new regional vice-presidents.

They include Alain Carriere for the Baffin region, Bette Palfrey for the Kivalliq region, and Manfred Eder from the Kitikmeot region.

Wilcox could not give membership figures for the respective regions.

Maintaining a consistent membership should also help fill association coffers. Memberships cost $10 a year, or $30 for a four-year membership.