This story was updated on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, at 8:45 a.m. ET.
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.
Arviat North-Whale Cove has two contenders for MLA: Arviat resident Tony Uluadluak and two-term incumbent John Main.
The riding encompasses all of Whale Cove and the northern half of Arviat.
Main was first elected to represent the riding in the 2017 election. The rookie territorial politician was passed over for a cabinet position.
Re-elected in 2021 by acclamation, Main made his way into cabinet and was given the health portfolio under Premier P.J. Akeeagok, with the additional portfolio of minister responsible for suicide prevention.
“The biggest feeling that I have in terms of this election is one of gratitude,” Main said, when asked what he is most proud of from his time in office. “I just feel so thankful to have been given this opportunity.”
He said accomplishments over the past two terms include new housing and infrastructure projects such as a new water treatment plant and airport in Whale Cove, and a new mental health programming space in Arviat.
Behind the scenes, Main said he has learned how to get new projects established and how to fund new programs.
Before entering politics, Main worked as a television reporter for CBC North, an economic development officer for the Hamlet of Arviat, and as regional business officer for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.
He is a past president of the Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the board of directors of the Nunavut Development Corp.
Main, who is fluent in Inuktitut and English, lives in Arviat with his wife and three children.
For Uluadluak, “our language” is among the most important issues in his campaign.
“The language is very important to speak in Nunavut, along with hunting and sewing,” he said in Inuktitut, speaking through a translator. “These are the main lifestyle [practices] Inuit yearn to live.”
Uluadluak serves as director for Arviat with the Kivalliq Inuit Association.
He started working at 13, “because my parents have been telling me to work hard and keep working.”
His late father, Donald Uluadluak, advocated honing one’s listening skills, he said … and the young Uluadluak listened.
“That is how people learn, by listening,” he said. “I’m saying this because my late father used to say this a lot growing up.”
Uluadluak has experience co-organizing recreational programs, such as the Arviat fishing derby. He worked with the hamlet since 2005 in a variety of roles, including bylaw officer, sewage truck driver and water truck driver.
Homelessness is among the most prominent problems in the riding, he said.
“Many people live in overcrowded homes,” Uluadluak said, adding it’s an issue territory-wide.
Health care is a concern to the constituency as well, he said.
“Looking at Arviat, the population is rising as well as the number of patients is getting high due to sickness, and we need to do something about health care,” he said.
Medevac is too slow at times, he said, and cancer diagnoses are slipping through the cracks.
“If we can somehow catch the early signs of cancer, it lowers the chance of getting higher stages” of the disease, he said.
Correction: This story was updated to correct information pertaining to how John Main did not get a cabinet seat when he was first elected.