The capital competition that nearly broke Nunavut 30 years ago

For all 25 years of Nunavut’s existence, Iqaluit has been its uncontested capital.

But 30 years ago, the question of which community should be the capital of the future territory was anything but uncontested.

So on Nunavut Day — when Nunavummiut celebrate Qikiqtaaluk, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot residents coming together to create Canada’s newest member of Confederation — here is the story of a vote that nearly broke them apart.

“Even before the territory became known, people started debating,” says Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa, who supported the idea of Iqaluit being the territory’s capital.

The debate intensified with the signing of the Nunavut Agreement on July 9, 1993. The land claims agreement between Inuit and the federal government started the ball rolling for the eventual creation of a new territory to be carved from the boundaries of Northwest Territories.

The newly outlined jurisdiction did need a capital. Frontrunners included Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

Soon, three lobby groups formed, each campaigning for either of the regional centres.

Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa, who sided with the Iqaluit camp in the capital race 30 years ago, says Nunavummiut have moved on from the debate that caused a rift between the territory’s regions. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)

Being the capital brings all sorts of benefits — more jobs and infrastructure, says Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie, who supported the Rankin Inlet lobby.

They argued Rankin Inlet would work for all Nunavummiut because it’s centrally located.

But Iqaluit, already the region’s largest community with roughly 4,400 people, responded that geography wasn’t a valid argument.

“Baker Lake is the geographic centre of Canada, but it does not have the transportation links and infrastructure to be Canada’s capital,” Iqaluit campaign organizers wrote in an article published in Nunatsiaq News on Dec. 1, 1995.

Also, Rankin Inlet’s notoriously unpredictable weather didn’t play in its favour.

“Weather is the boss,” Awa said, adding that if the debate were held today weather might play a smaller role due to modern communication technologies.

As for Cambridge Bay, they mostly feared the prospect of Iqaluit as a capital because it was too far from their region, Awa said.

In 1994, as voting day approached, Pat Lyall, one of the leaders of the Cambridge Bay group, told Nunatsiaq News the community was willing to drop out and support Rankin Inlet in exchange for more benefits for the Kitikmeot region.

He later denied that was the strategy, but in November, a month before the scheduled vote, Cambridge Bay hamlet council voted to not be listed on the ballot.

So it became a two-way race between Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet, to be determined at the polls by all Nunavummiut of voting age on Dec. 11, 1995.

Well, almost.

The final decision would still be made in Ottawa.

Ron Irwin, the minister of Indian affairs and northern development, “committed to take [the vote result] forward to cabinet,” chief polling officer David Hamilton told Nunatsiaq News before the vote.

Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie says he’s happy that Rankin Inlet didn’t end up being the Nunavut capital. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

But, he added, “They can take the recommendation, change it, throw it out, agree to it, or whatever.”

Nevertheless, people voted.

Unexpectedly for both sides, results weren’t even close. Iqaluit won with about 60 per cent, taking 5,869 of the 9,745 total votes cast — nearly 2,000 more than Rankin Inlet received.

The federal cabinet accepted the people’s vote on Iqaluit officially became the capital later in December.

Nunavut MLAs, still based in Yellowknife, started working to bridge any hard feelings caused by the race, with some hinting the existence of the new territory could be at risk.

“We have to step forward and come together to make sure that Nunavut is actually in effect on April 1, 1999, and to reach our hands out” to people all across the new territory, Iqaluit MLA Ed Picco said after the vote.

Natilikmeot MLA John Ningark, who chaired the Nunavut caucus in the N.W.T. legislative assembly, said Inuit have survived in the Arctic for thousands of years because they know how to work together.

Now, nearly 30 years after the vote, both sides in the capital race have mostly moved on, Awa said.

“We agree to disagree,” he said.

Towtongie said he’s happy Rankin Inlet isn’t the capital, because that comes with its own baggage. The hamlet would have had to become much larger, with a lot of out-of-town government workers moving in.

“You kind of lose the sense of community and the sense of control,” he said.