Pita Aatami sweeps back to top of Makivik Corp.

MONTREAL — Eligible Inuit beneficiaries in Nunavik have re-elected Pita Aatami as president of the Makivik Corporation by an overwhelming margin.

On Nearly 3,000 of Nunavik’s 4676 eligible beneficiaries turned out for the Fri., Mar. 31,election, giving Aatami 73.9 per cent of the total votes cast.

Aatami won a majority in every Nunavik community, in Montreal, at the Raglan mine, and among delegates attending Makivik’s annual general meeting in Kuujjuaq.

Aatami said he felt confident going into the election, but said he was “blown away” by the level of support he received on election day.

“I want to thank all those voters who went out to vote, and all those who supported me,” Aatami said.

He received 2152 votes, while Sen. Charlie Watt received 661 and Adamie A. Kadjulik received 87.

Aatami said voters weren’t swayed by Watt’s campaign contention that the Nunavik Accord signed away the region’s right to decide its future by locking it into a sovereign Quebec.

“It’s a process,” Aatami said. “It in no way traps the Inuit of Nunavik.”

Aatami has faced Sen. Watt in the last three Makivik general elections.

Aatami said it’s time now to end the rivalry.

“He [Watt] has a lot of good ideas and has helped Inuit a lot in the past,” Aatami said. “So, let’s get on with life and see how we can work together to solve Nunavik’s problems.”

During the meeting ,three high school students from Jaanimmark School in Kuujjuaq came to speak to delegates about the loss of three of their classmates to suicide over the past year.

“It was a rough moment for everyone,” Aatami said.

Aatami said governments must appreciate that the “fast-forwarding” of Inuit from a nomadic lifestyle has caused a lot of turmoil in communities.

A play staged for delegates and the community was particularly effective in describing those changes. It depicted the contacts between Inuit and Qallunaat from their first encounters with whalers to the announcement of the James Bay hydroelectric project in 1970.

Aatami said he used the presence of cabinet ministers and Southern politicians at the meeting to remind them once again of the important role Inuit played in building Quebec and Canada.