Pita Aatami will run again for top Makivik job

MONTREAL — The current president of the Makivik Corporation, Pita Aatami, has already decided that his name will appear again on the ballot when Nunavik Inuit head to the polls on March 31 to chose a new leader for their birthright development organization.

“I’m going to seek a three-year mandate,” Aatami told Nunatsiaq News. “My work isn’t finished, and I have a clear idea of what needs to be done to solve our problems.”

Aatami was first elected as the president of the Makivik Corporation in October, 1998 to complete the remainder of former president Zebedee Nungak’s term. Nungak had abruptly resigned, citing personal problems.

Aatami, who had previously served as Makivik’s treasurer, successfully campaigned for the presidency on a platform of bread and butter issues, such as the need for more housing, job creation, and improved access to education.

Around 60 per cent of the 4667 eligible beneficiary voters from communities all over Nunavik turned out for this by-election, giving Aatami 971 votes. He won with 34 per cent of the vote, followed by Charlie Watt with 27 per cent, and Harry Tulugak with 17 per cent.

Aatami hasn’t yet finalized his campaign platform for the upcoming election.

But after winding up a tour of Nunavik communities, during which he and other members of Makivik’s executive met with local residents, Aatami learned that jobs and housing still top the list of regional concerns.

In 1998, eight candidates were in the race for the position of president, and Aatami does not expect to be the sole candidate in the upcoming election.

Nominations for the presidency will close Thurs., Feb. 24. Interested candidates and their nominators must be over 18, and Inuit beneficiaries of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Five of the ten nominators needed for each candidate’s application must live in different communities.

According to Makivik’s by-laws, a person who has declared bankruptcy, and still owes money to creditors, can’t run for the presidency.

And someone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for five years or more can’t run for this office, either. Unless a pardon was obtained, this disqualification continues for five years from the date of the conviction.

Five positions are also up for election on the Makivik board of directors. These directors will represent the communities of Akulivik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kuujjuaq, Kuujjuaraapik and Puvirnituq. Elections will be held in these communities on Thurs., Feb. 17.

The election for Makivik’s president will cap off the organization’s annual general meeting to be held in Kuujjuaq from Mar. 27 to 31.

Polls will be open in 14 Nunavik communities, Chisasibi, Montreal and at the Raglan mine site. Eligible voters who can’t make it to a polling station on election day can make a request before hand for a proxy to cast their vote.

More information on the Makivik elections is available from Lucy Grey, the Makivik Corporation’s chief electoral officer, at 819-964-2925.