Pangnirtung MLA consults family, seeks second term

PATRICIA D’SOUZA

Pangnirtung MLA Peter Kilabuk began the new year with an announcement to his constituents that he will seek a second term as their elected representative.

After speaking with his family over the Christmas holidays, Kilabuk took to the airwaves, via hamlet radio.

“The reason why I did this is I wanted to inform my constituents first, so they can hear it from me personally,” he said in an interview this week.

He said it was particularly important to hear from his family. During his first term in office, Kilabuk lost a son to suicide.

“I wanted to get a good feel from my immediate family because of what me and my family have gone through over the last three years,” he said.

“After a thorough discussion and input, we decided, I have decided in discussion with my family, that I will be seeking re-election.”

If he is reelected, Kilabuk said he would be interested in pursuing a position in cabinet, though he will keep an open mind with regard to cabinet portfolios.

He said he would even consider becoming premier, though he has not yet held discussions into the matter.

“I would wait to make that decision, only after I’ve met and sat with the new MLAs,” he said.

In the 1999 election, Kilabuk, a relative newcomer, won 171 votes. His closest competitor was Seemieonie Keenainak, with 119 votes.

He served as cabinet minister during most of the long and painful creation and eventual demise of Bill 1, the proposed made-in-Nunavut education act.

After a cabinet shuffle last year, he was made minister of community government and transportation, as well as culture, language, elders and youth.

As an MLA, he has been a vocal supporter of decentralization, mainly because of the benefits it has brought to his community. And he credits himself with helping his constituents understand the limitations of government.

“One of my biggest accomplishments, outside social housing, new infrastructure, has been the new understanding of what government is and what the government is capable of doing and what it cannot do,” he said.

“As a result, it has opened up a lot of new opportunities.”