One of those historic elections politicians warn you about

In a democracy, elections are like meals — the most important one is always the next one.

Sure, in every election politicians, in their zeal to get people to vote, say “this is the most important election in our history.”

Once in a while, issues emerge that really do make an election a watershed moment, where the outcome could have significant and lasting consequences for the country’s future. This is one of them.

Of course, it’s important to vote on April 28.

But it’s just as important to make an informed vote.

Nunatsiaq News has provided coverage throughout this very short campaign to help readers know what’s at stake and where their candidates for MP stand.

We have published profiles of all three candidates in Nunavut — Conservative James T. Arreak, the NDP’s Lori Idlout and Liberal Kilikvak Kabloona. The goal of those articles was to give readers an introduction to the candidates vying to represent them in the House of Commons.

Those profiles are online and were published in the April 18 print edition.

We also published profiles of the four candidates in Nunavik, the sprawling riding officially known as Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou. They are Bloc Québécois candidate Sylvie Bérubé, Conservative Steve Corriveau, Liberal Mandy Gull-Masty and New Democrat Thai Higashihara.

They appear on pages 6 and 7 of this week’s print edition. And they are also online.

We’ve published feature articles about some of the big issues that are important to northerners.

Back when the election was just on the horizon, it was obvious that Arctic security and sovereignty were issues Canadians were paying attention to. U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk about making Canada the 51^st state and of annexing Greenland, along with the uncertainty posed by Russia, made defence and foreign policy prominent issues.

Three party leaders — Conservative Pierre Poilievre, New Democrat Jagmeet Singh and Liberal Mark Carney — visited Iqaluit in the weeks leading up to the election call. Each of them included a beefed-up military presence in the North as part of their vision.

Following that lead, reporter Arty Sarkisian wrote a series of feature stories looking at different aspects of Arctic defence, including exploring the difference between a military base and an operational support hub, Canada’s difficult Arctic defence history, and what one expert called the “ferociously expensive” cost of defending the Arctic.

Reporter Jeff Pelletier spent a week in Grise Fiord talking to people not only about Arctic sovereignty in a community that exists because Canada relocated Inuit families in the name of Arctic sovereignty, but also about pocketbook issues like the cost of living. It’s so isolated that the federal candidates didn’t make it there and there wasn’t much evidence a campaign was even happening.

Throughout the campaign, all of our reporters have contributed to our coverage of federal issues, such as Nutrition North, the perennial issue of housing, and the fate of the Inuit Child First Initiative, a federal program whose support Inuit families have come to rely on and whose recent handling by the government has been confusing.

With just a few days to go until Monday’s election, we hope readers will revisit some of Nunatsiaq’s coverage of election issues in the spirit of not just voting, but of making an informed vote.