{"id":246537,"date":"2025-10-28T22:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T22:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246537\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T22:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T22:15:11","slug":"i-was-a-stranger-to-them-cultural-differences-play-into-races-in-small-northern-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246537\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was a stranger to them:\u2019 Cultural differences play into races in small northern communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

After losing seat in Nunavut election, Mary Killiktee is updating her resume and looking for better \u2018tomorrows\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Uqqummiut is one of seven Nunavut ridings that include two or more communities, along with Aivilik, Amittuq, Arviat North-Whale Cove, Netsilik, Quttiktuq and Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet. (Screenshot courtesy of Elections Nunavut)<\/p>\n

Mary Killiktee is glad that there are \u201ctomorrows.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Qikiqtarjuaq mayor and a one-term MLA is reflecting after losing her re-election bid for Uqqummiut \u2014 the riding that includes the communities of Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River \u2014 on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Gordon Kautuk, a former Clyde River hamlet councillor of 14 years, is the riding\u2019s MLA-elect, according to unofficial results of the Nunavut territorial election.<\/p>\n

Kautuk received 402 votes, while Killiktee got 132.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish him all the best,\u201d\u00a0she said Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

The result was devastating, but not surprising, she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2021, Killiktee won against Clyde River candidate Sheila Enook, but since then Killiktee was \u201cregularly\u201d told that her Clyde River constituents want to see their MLA as a representative for their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have felt that they\u2019ve been neglected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While the majority of Qikiqtarjuaq\u2019s voters opted for Killiktee, most Clyde River voters cast their ballot for Kautuk.<\/p>\n

With Clyde River\u2019s population being nearly 1,200 people \u2014 twice as big as Qikiqtarjuaq\u2019s \u2014 Kautuk\u2019s win was predictable, Killiktee said.<\/p>\n

To her, that underlines the issue faced by some Nunavut MLAs of having to represent and run in ridings that include several communities.<\/p>\n

For 25 Nunavut communities, there are only 22 MLAs.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Uqqummiut is one of seven constituencies that include two or more hamlets, along with Aivilik, Amittuq, Arviat North-Whale Cove, Netsilik, Quttiktuq, and Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet.<\/p>\n

Even though Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq face similar issues like housing and education, they are still different historically and culturally, Killiktee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a stranger to them and they were a stranger to me,\u201d she said, adding that before the 2021 election she had only been to Clyde River once.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I\u2019m less of a stranger to them now after four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two communities are roughly 400 kilometres apart, with no road between them or direct flight connection.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

As well, the two places use different dialects of Inuktitut \u2014 Qikiqtarjuaq\u2019s is closer to Pangnirtung\u2019s, while Clyde River\u2019s is more similar to Pond Inlet\u2019s, Killiktee said.<\/p>\n

The process of campaigning doesn\u2019t come without its issues, either.<\/p>\n

Killiktee said she got stuck for three days in Clyde River due to poor weather before she could fly to Iqaluit and return home from there to Qikiqtarjuaq, just a day before the election.<\/p>\n

The cost of the trip was roughly $2,100 and unlike when Killiktee was travelling as a sitting MLA, her re-election campaign travel expenses were not covered by the Nunavut government, so she had to \u201csave up\u201d to be able to afford it, she said.<\/p>\n

Also, the 12 election posters Killiktee ordered didn\u2019t arrive<\/a> because of the Canada Post strike.<\/p>\n

So while other candidates could show off their pins and websites, she had to go ahead without any election swag.<\/p>\n

The issue of several communities being lumped together into one riding, with some constituents having to be represented by a \u201cstranger,\u201d is hard to crack, she said.<\/p>\n

The size of a constituency is determined by population, with the aim being for all MLAs to represent roughly the same number of voters.<\/p>\n

One solution, Killiktee said, could be to make the population of each riding smaller so that they could fit in a single community.<\/p>\n

But with Grise Fiord, Nunavut\u2019s smallest community with just 144 residents, such a reform would dramatically increase the number of MLAs and stretch the capabilities of the existing legislative assembly building, she said.<\/p>\n

For now, Killiktee is looking to take some time off so she can \u201cupdate her resume.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to stay home,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cI will be looking for a job, but a there aren\u2019t a lot of options in smaller communities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After losing seat in Nunavut election, Mary Killiktee is updating her resume and looking for better \u2018tomorrows\u2019 Uqqummiut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-246537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}