Simailak appointed as justice minister, minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corp.
New portfolios announced less than a week after Adam Arreak Lightstone resigned from cabinet
Baker Lake MLA Craig Simailak, seen here in the legislative assembly after being voted into cabinet on April 20, has been assigned his portfolio by Premier P.J. Akeeagok. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier) (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Craig Simailak is Nunavut’s new minister of justice, according to a news release from Premier P.J. Akeeagok.
He will also serve as minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corporation, minister responsible for labour, minister responsible for democratic institutions and minister responsible for the human rights tribunal.
Simailak, who has served as the MLA for Baker Lake since 2020, was voted into cabinet on April 20 in a leadership conference following Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone’s resignation from cabinet.
Lightstone was found to be in a conflict of interest earlier this month after his wife was appointed acting deputy minister of Human Resources for a week in December while he was minister of that department.
Simailak was officially sworn into cabinet on Friday.
Lightstone’s former portfolios — Finance, Human Resources, and minister responsible for Workers Safety and Compensation Commission — have been split among the other members of cabinet.
Lorne Kusugak is now minister of finance, and Margaret Nakashuk is now Nunavut’s new human resources minister, as well as minister responsible for the WSCC.
Previously, David Akeeagok had been serving as minister of justice, among other cabinet positions. Qulliq Energy Corp. was previously one of Joanna Quassa’s portfolios.
“I welcome Minister Simailak to our cabinet,” Akeeagok said in the news release. “Minister Simailak brings a great deal of experience to our team.”
Looking like a deer in the headlights in the photo but good luck. I do not understand why Justice and Corrections are the same department they are often split up in most places since one is usually more operations based like Public Safety/Corrections, while the other is policy and legal based, Justice. If they split HR from Finance they should do the same at Justice since rounding up the RCMP and Baffin Corrections has little to do with making legislation and going to court.
“Minister Simailak brings a great deal of experience to our team.”
Oh?
The integrity commissioner identified an “apparent conflict of interest” and went on to emphasize that neither Lightstone nor his family benefited. The question of if there was an actual conflict of interest was not determined (see the middle of page 13 https://assembly.nu.ca/sites/default/files/TD-002-6(2)-EN-Integrity-Commissioner-Lightstone.pdf).
It is currently reported here as “Lightstone was found to be in a conflict of interest…” which strongly suggests an actual conflict of interest.
It would be more accurate to report “Despite receiving no personal benefit, Lightstone was deemed to have failed to prevent to the perception of a conflict of interest…”