Gerry Anawak, Annie Tattuinee and Tagak Curley face off for 1 of 2 seats representing Nunavut’s second-largest communities
Nunatsiaq News is publishing riding profiles ahead of the Oct. 27 territorial election. Keep your eye on our website to learn more about who is running in your area.
Two political first-timers will face off against one of Nunavut’s founding fathers to represent Nunavut’s second largest community at the legislative assembly.
Residents of Rankin Inlet South, a constituency that includes the southwestern half of the community, will have a choice between three candidates – Gerry Anawak, Annie Tattuinee and Tagak Curley. It also includes both of Rankin Inlet’s schools, the RCMP detachment, hamlet office, airport, Kivalliq Healing Facility, Co-op and Northern stores.
Incumbent Lorne Kusugak, who has served as the riding’s MLA since 2017, announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
Curley couldn’t be reached for comment.
A father of three and lifelong public servant, Anawak says his main priorities are building more houses and expanding services available in the rapidly growing community of almost 3,000 people.
“I really want to push for homes. We’ve got so many homeless people and our growing young population is moving out of the community because there’s just not enough homes,” he said.
Anawak says even with Nunavut 3000, Nunavut’s government’s plan to build 3000 new residential units between 2022 and 2030, Rankin will still need more houses.
“We need at least 500 homes right away,” Anawak said.
There is also a need to expand mental health supports and addictions prevention services, he said.
Tattuinee agrees that the community needs more homes and services, but notes that it would take creating new water and power infrastructure first. The community’s core infrastructure is at capacity and older than its expected lifespan, she said.
“If we wanted to build more buildings, we need to upgrade our infrastructure to allow us to our community to grow,” Tattuinee said.
Also, the territory should tap into the Arctic sovereignty and security conversation to ensure that it includes “addressing gaps in infrastructure that in turn deal with mental and physical as well as food insecurity issues,” she said.
A mother of three, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of one, Tattuinee has worked in “supportive” roles for Inuit organizations, territorial and federal governments for more than 40 years.
She once held a role of the CEO of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and currently works in the executive department of the Kivalliq Inuit Association.
“I’ve found myself recently wanting to use my voice is rather than waiting in the background and waiting for somebody to say, something that I find near and dear to my heart,” she said.
In a Facebook post announcing his candidacy on Sept. 19, Curley said he plans to help Rankin Inlet address Nunavut-wide issues like “out-of-control” food prices, environmental impacts from mining, high cost of living and high costs for air travel.
Curley, a founding member of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a former Nunavut MLA and cabinet minister, is a veteran of Nunavut politics, often touted as one of the territory’s founding fathers, and a self-described “radical.”
