Okalik dumps Anawak from CLEY

Jack Anawak, the MLA for Rankin Inlet North, is a minister without portfolio, after Premier Paul Okalik bounced him from the culture, language, elders and youth portfolio this week for publicly opposing a cabinet decision to move the Petroleum Products Division to Baker Lake from Rankin Inlet.

As “minister without portfolio,” Anawak will remain in cabinet. But he’ll have no departmental responsibilities.

Okalik accused Anawak of putting personal political considerations ahead of the interest of Nunavummiut, and of undermining the work of other ministers.

“The responsibility of a minister is to accept and support decisions made by cabinet, and not to advance personal opinions or preferences. Ministers are expected to maintain confidentiality of the information, discussions and disagreements of cabinet,” Okalik told reporters Feb. 11. “Cabinet solidarity is essential to the daily workings of government.”

In recent interviews on CBC radio and television, Anawak had criticized a plan that could see up to 13 jobs transferred to Baker Lake from Rankin Inlet.

The plan is part of a proposal described in Okalik a massive report on Nunavut’s energy needs, called Ikuma II.

According to the plan, the Rankin-based petroleum products division would be folded into a new Nunavut fuel corporation. The fuel corporation would be located in Baker Lake alongside the Nunavut Power Corporation, and both would operate as subsidiaries of a new entity called the Qulliq Fuel Corporation.

Okalik said the Nunavut cabinet approved the plan “in principle” late last year, and he pledged that the government would not bend in carrying out its decentralization commitments.

“Our goal is to complete decentralization so that we can move forward on other, more important, issues, such as working to build economic opportunities in non-decentralized communities,” Okalik said.

Okalik said stripping Anawak of his departmental responsibilities is the only action he’s able to take to discipline his errant minister.

Under the consensus system, ministers are chosen by the legislative assembly, not the premier. The premier, however, is in charge of assigning departmental jobs.

When the legislative assembly resumes sitting on March 4, MLAs could choose to conduct a non-confidence vote aimed at removing Anawak from cabinet.

But Glenn McLean, the MLA for Baker Lake, said it’s too early to say whether regular MLAs are willing to take that step.

“I can’t respond to that. I’m still trying to talk to the other MLAs at this point. I’m still trying to fathom what we do next and at this point it will be discussed at our March session,” McLean said.

He added, however, that he’s pleased with Okalik’s decision to move the jobs to Baker Lake.

“[Okalik] told us in 1999 that he is committed to decentralization, and everybody knows that I represent a decentralized community,” McLean said. “If you’re a minister, you’re representing everybody, and that’s what my constituents in Baker Lake are saying.”

South Baffin MLA Olayuk Akesuk will now look after CLEY, making him the fourth minister to walk through the department’s revolving door since April 1, 1999. Kugluktuk MLA Donald Havioyak and Hudson Bay MLA Peter Kattuk have also held the portfolio for brief periods.

Anawak was Okalik’s biggest political rival even before the official creation of Nunavut in 1999.

As Nunavut’s Interim Commissioner, from April 1997 until the end of 1998, Anawak promoted a vision of Nunavut as a user-friendly government that Nunavut’s Inuit majority would find less intimidating and autocratic than the Government of the Northwest Territories.

After winning the Rankin Inlet North seat by a margin of 27 votes, Anawak challenged Okalik for the Nunavut premier’s job, saying he wanted to continue the work that he started as Interim Commissioner. But MLAs instead turned to the younger and relatively inexperienced Okalik.

Okalik first gave Anawak responsibility for the justice and community government departments. But Anawak lost those portfolios in cabinet shuffles, and ended up with only the tiny CLEY department.

With an annual budget of about $9 million, CLEY is considered to be the least prestigious portfolio.

Manitok Thompson, the MLA for Rankin Inlet South-Whale Cove, also spoke out against the impending move of jobs from Rankin Inlet to Baker Lake last fall.

But Okalik said she made those comments before cabinet had reached its decision on the Rankin to Baker transfer, and for that reason she did not violate cabinet solidarity.

At presstime, Anawak had not responded to a telephone message left at his office.