Paul Irngaut prioritizes elders, hunters and housing in NTI presidential bid
Elected vice-president in 2022, longtime Inuit organization leader touts experience as he seeks top job
Paul Irngaut is hoping to ascend to the top job at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. after serving as the organization’s acting president since December. (File photo by Cedric Gallant)
Nunatsiaq News is publishing profiles of the 10 candidates in Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s May 27 presidential byelection.
In his bid to ascend to the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. presidency, Paul Irngaut is prioritizing elders’ and hunters’ benefits, as well as advancing the organization’s role in housing.
“I feel that I can be effective and make changes for Inuit when it comes to discussions that affect them in the North,” Irngaut, 66, said in an interview Monday.
Irngaut first started at NTI in 2000. He worked in the organization’s wildlife and communications departments and as a liaison with the executive. In 2022, he was elected vice-president.
He has been acting president since December last year, when Jeremy Tunraluk went on leave and resigned as president a month later, triggering the May 27 byelection.
Irngaut — who grew up in Igloolik but has spent the last three decades in Iqaluit — was also a TV reporter for CBC News for 10 years.
As part of his presidential campaign, Irngaut is promising reviews every five years of who is eligible and how much money NTI provides to elders as part of the Uqqujjait Innarnut pension program.
During the board’s meeting in March of this year, the program was expanded to elders born on or before Dec. 31, 1961. The monthly payout to recipients was increased to $250.
Irngaut is also calling to increase funding for hunters, which NTI pays the three regional Inuit organizations in Nunavut to administer.
“If you really look at it, the hunters provide a lot of [food] for the communities, and they’re not getting paid,” Irngaut said. “The support that we provide for them has to increase with the cost of living in the North.”
Irngaut also envisions expanding NTI’s role in building and providing affordable housing through Igluvut Corp., the not-for-profit housing entity it established last year.
“If we built the houses and we start renting it to [Inuit] at a much lower rate, they can keep their jobs, and that incentive is that they will work, they will contribute,” Irngaut said. “If people can start at a lower rent, and in the future start owning their homes, it can only benefit Inuit in the future.”
Irngaut acknowledges that there are 10 “very good candidates” in the race.
He says what sets him apart is his experience with NTI along with his record of successful collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the federal government.
If Irngaut does not win this byelection, he says he will return to the vice-president role until that term ends in December.
“I’ve always worked for Inuit and I will always work for Inuit,” Irngaut said. “People should understand that I have the best interests at heart.”
Yes that’s what we want to do, introduce money / compensation into hunting. Not like we are already seeing total eradication of any populations within a few hundred KMS of communities with how easy it is to travel via snowmobile now.
I hunt myself, its painful to watch, take , take, take and anyone who says the culture is not wasteful, I implore you to go look at how some harvest. Best and easiest cuts to get at, leave everything else. Torsos with the backstrap and loins taken left behind everytime.
The second you introduce money, it will be a slaughter. This isn’t the old days of hunting. High powered snowmobiles, 20 foot sleds to tow and rifles to gun everything down. HTO’s are not going to manage populations. Most HTO’s are a family and friends run operation.
If you want populations around for your grandkids and their grandkids there needs to be significantly more oversight than there already is on hunting, not the introduction of money into it.
He is talking about food… who feeds the community tell me? Chicken wings and pork chops??? I don’t think so
And I am talking about responsibility and oversight, not saying the elimination of hunting. Without that there will be no hunting for future generations. Its quite clear by the drop in population of surrounding communities. Don’t let your current greed hinder your grandkids. Selfishness of past generations is quite clearly playing out in many different areas across our country.
There’s many different ppl and cultures and different understandings of the reality of north, Elders are being abused emotionally and physically as we speak, and they are essential part of family, the main nest and foundation of communities teaching harvesting ways to the hunters that are struggling to keep up with community that need good nutrition to survive in one of most hostile environment, Inuit cannot fully apply what southerners are imposing, telling Inuit how to live??? Nah! You see, Inuit have good survival skills and better technology to fully adapt in arctic ! On est Les maîtres de chez nous! Mon ti gars
Perhaps you missed the past 60 or 70 years. Today is not the same as days past. Today you are posting your comment online via phone or computer or some other electronic device attached to the internet. Why? Because how we communicate has changed significantly. Today you can go turn up your thermostat for hear, apply for social assistance to allow you to buy food, etc. You are not heating your surrounding using seal oil, you are not fully reliant on hunting for subsistence, just like howe we communicate, our forms of living have changed. Harsh environment? Where from inside your year-round heated paid for home?
This is also not days past population wise, Nunavut’s population continues to grow at a faster rate than any other territory due to people becoming pregnant at much younger ages and on average having more children than the rest of Canada. This is not small individual groups of people spread out anymore. It is not the days of old.
In addition, mortality rates have decreased significantly over the years, people are living longer which means more food is needed. More food, more harvesting, more pressure on populations. Very simple.
Again, I am pro hunting, but I am not so blind to realize times have drastically changed which has changed significantly how much people can hunt in a single day, how significantly hunting risks have been reduced, how easily it is to now take mammals with rifles compared to days past, and as a result how easy it is to over harvest or poorly harvest. With increased life span, increased population, it’s very simple to see how populations of animals will easily become wiped out.
You don’t have to have much foresight, you have ample evidence elsewhere of the same thing occurring which can be applied here.
Actually, I work at the local store here and it’s more like chicken nuggets and pizza feeding the community. Usually washed down with litres of coke.
Absolutely Right,
Just look at Cambridge Bay, They have Kitikmeot Foods, they slaughtered Muskox and Caribou for Jerky-Burgers for year. Wild meat is not farmed, so we have NO control over the growth of an Animal, but when we start to travel farther away and notice we wonder what’s the problem?
Just look at the Caribou around Yellowknife, there is nothing left from all the hunters that waste meat (It’s in the news every year). NOTHING LEFT FOR THE NEXT GENERATIONS TO COME!!
Just follow Inuit law! Never touch an animal unless you gonna eat it! There I go, teaching you the real conservative mesure, have hope and keep growing veggies cause we all need it on the side
Its not out of towners over harvesting. Inuit do not follow their own principals and HTO do not enforce good hunting principals. And it wont start magically doing that. Towns are small, HTO is the family and friends of such perpetrators. You are not going to go try to fine or discipline family or friends, won’t happen, isn’t happening.
And just like the individual above is referencing when Cam Bay overharvested muskox due to the dollar being involved, you involve the dollar again and provide compensation to hunters, it will rapidly increase the rate of total extermination of wildlife within hundreds of KM’s of town.
I agree, Northern manitoba and Northern Sask, First Nations are slaughtering the Caribou, and nobody saying anything, and the Kivalliq region slaughtering caribou to sell everywhere and nobody saying anything, and when the herds get down to a few thousand then the blame game and finger pointing.
Fund eh!!! How much funding did he spend going to Nuuk, Greenland? Money that could have stayed in Nunavut for Inuit?
It’s nice he wants to assist hunters and elders, but what about other hard working people? The cost of living has gone up for hard working people who own their own houses, the cost to electricity, fuel, water, what about those Inuit? Hard working Inuit are often forgotten, there never is any consideration for those Inuit.
Inuit have a right to eat proper nutrition from wild game, we do not work hard to eat noodles or macaroni, and all that crap, Inuit must eat local foods
All these candidates are sounding like a broken record, promising same thing over and over, housing, elders, hunters… Paul has been in the office for so long why hasn’t he implemented any of those while he was in the office? 1.5 billions of dollars have been allocated to NTI from Federal Government in the last 10 years….
Money that belongs to Inuit through the Nunavut Agreement not Ottawa, learn!
I think someone may have forgotten to take out the recycling.
He promises to expand housing through the entity already created? What are they gonna not build if he doesn’t get elected? NTI has: Inuit Housing Fund Value: $135 million
https://www.tunngavik.com/files/2025/10/2025-Backgrounder-Igluvut-and-IHF-En.pdf
The Inuit Housing Fund, approved in August 2025, provides a stable, Inuit-controlled
financial foundation to support affordable housing construction, renewal, and
maintenance.
This Fund builds on the $422 million in distinctions-based funding secured in Budget
2022, the first federal investment recognizing Inuit authority over housing design and
delivery, and the additional $98 million provided through the Urban, Rural and
Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy (URNIHS).
This is since 2022, where are these houses? Or where are these millions lol
Irngaut needs to retire, be a family man and let real action move forward.
Thank you, next!
Elders and hunters provide essentials to the community, Inuit need country food, many go hungry if we stop hunting, yes we need more funding
What about marine mammals too then. Everyone Exploiting all living animals by the sounds of it. 1.5 billion dollars for inuit ? Wow. Where does it go with 39000 inuit in the territory ? Complain about hunting instead should be complaining why northwest co. And cdn north are a conglomerate .hunters know this .
I wish there was more honesty with our leaders. Just once, I would like to hear them say things are about as good as they can be with 25% of us doing 95% of everything to run our communities.
That they have a respectful but firm plan to get the other 75% of the people in our communities to pitch in just a little more. Our collective lives would be so much improved by this.
However, this is taboo for our leaders to talk about. They just don’t want to acknowledge this great amount of unnecessary inactivity and passivity is such a huge drag on our society.
This effects every issue, be it hunting, be it housing, whatever. Too few people that know how to and are motivated to do too much.
the boomers to let go. Other demographics and priorities exist and need attention too
Come and see how arviatmiut have treated elders. Even politicians and Paul in gait was here, not even check how they have been working. There should be an election too in MP, Lori won’t even do her job too.
Vote NEW. New blood.
Don’t recycle those who have yet to make any changes while in office somewhere, let alone the ‘promises’ they make now to get voted in.
Why did he not resign from an elected position first before running for a higher position in the same organization If not elected he goes back to previous position makes no sense to me.
When are Inuit going to realize we deserve better then an absolute airhead who got voted in because they saw him on tv before. The guy don’t even show up for work to prepare for important meeting and it shows so badly. Just reading out a text instead of his own words is so telling. Please anybody but this guy nor the drunk fired guy, nor the anti-gay lady.
Why does it feel like only hunters are being supported? Not everyone has access to hunting supplies, transportation, or the opportunity to go out on the land. Some people are made to feel ashamed or less than because they can’t provide in the same way, and that hurts. In some cases, people proudly show off what they catch while others are left struggling, and not everyone chooses to share their harvest with the community.
What our communities truly need is more support for our youth. We need more people willing to teach them traditional skills like hunting, sewing, and living from the land. These teachings are more than survival skills, they are part of our identity, our healing, and our connection to each other.
Our youth deserve opportunities, guidance, and safe spaces where they feel valued and included. If we invested more into them, into recreation, culture, mentorship, and community programs, maybe fewer young people would feel lost or turn to alcohol to cope. Supporting hunters is important, but supporting the next generation is just as important. We should be lifting everyone up, not leaving people behind.