The candidates: Aivilik

Naujaat, population 1,012, is located on the Arctic Circle and is rich in wildlife. It's the closest community to Ukkusiksalik National Park, created in 2003 around Wager Bay.

Naujaat has one of the lowest median incomes in Nunavut with half its working population earning less than $21,500 per year in 2014.

Coral Harbour has 1,376 residents and is named for the coral found in its nearby waters. 

Rapid population growth has intensified the territory's housing crisis in Coral Harbour.

Recent deaths in the community, as well as active cases of COVID-19 there in October have made the campaign low-key in Coral Harbour, candidates said.

In the Aivilik constituency, Helena Malliki, Solomon Malliki, Lucassie Padlayat Nakoolak and Johnny Ningeongan are challenging the incumbent Patterk Netser.

CBC has reached out to all candidates with a list of questions in Inuktut and English, as well as consulted candidates' own online campaign messages. The available information has been edited for length and clarity.

Helena Malliki

Helena Malliki of Naujaat said she is running for MLA because she wants to be the voice for Nunavummiut to their government.

Malliki is a former government liaison officer, social worker, community justice outreach worker, Brighter Futures co-ordinator and community liaison officer for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA).

She has also served as Naujaat's deputy mayor, as well as on the KIA's board and other committees.

Malliki said the biggest issues in her constituency relate to income support, justice, police, housing, education and the environment. She said her constituency also needs a facility for elders and people with disabilities.

Asked what she thought is the biggest issue for Nunavut in this election, Malliki said "COVID-19."

Solomon Malliki

Solomon Malliki was born in Sanirajak and later moved to Naujaat, where he has served as mayor, a council member and a bylaw officer.

Malliki, a Grade 12 graduate who speaks Inuktitut and English fluently, said he decided to run for MLA on the advice of elders.

The biggest issue in his constituency's two communities is health care, he said. On the territorial level, problems accessing health care and the lack of housing are the biggest concerns.

Johnny Ningeongan

Johnny Ningeongan was elected as MLA for the former constituency of Nanulik in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2008 territorial election. He was defeated in the 2013 election in the redistributed district of Aivilik.

Prior to his election, Ningeongan served five terms as mayor of Coral Harbour and one term as president of the Nunavut Federation of Municipalities.

Ningeongan said he decided to run again at the urging of people in Coral Harbour and Naujaat. 

Ningeongan said he is ready to bring his experience back to work for the two communities.

In both communities, as in Nunavut, the lack of public housing is the largest problem, leading to serious social problems, he said.

The other main issue concerns mental health and access to services. Residents of all ages need help to maintain their social well-being, he said.

Patterk Netser (incumbent)

Patterk (Patiq) Netser (Natsiq) was born and raised in Coral Harbour. 

He was first elected to the Nunavut government in a byelection in 2004, and was re-elected later that same year. He held several cabinet portfolios during the term, including housing, economic development and transportation, environment and the Workers' Compensation Board. 

Netser then left territorial politics and served as executive assistant to Leona Aglukkaq for six years when she was Nunavut's MP.

In 2017, he ran again successfully as MLA and was elected to cabinet in 2018 as minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp. and for Nunavut Arctic College.

In 2020, Netser was stripped of his portfolios after a Facebook post from his account stated "all lives matter," a statement largely seen as a criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement. The post also went on to criticize Black women for having abortions.

Netser said he has enjoyed his time as a regular MLA and that he was running again because there is still so much to do.

Housing is the biggest issue facing Nunavut, he said. 

Suicide, which Netser has called an epidemic in Nunavut, also needs to be better dealt with, he said, adding it's time for everyone in the territory to start thinking out of the box.

Lucassie Padlayat Nakoolak

Born and raised in Coral Harbour, Lucassie Padlayat Nakoolak said his formal schooling ended at Grade 5 because his father did not want him to go off to Churchill to continue his studies.

But later Nakoolak completed the Arthur Turner Training School in Pangnirtung to become an Anglican minister and served in that capacity until Dec. 31, 2020. 

If elected as MLA, he said would work on improving health care in his community and bringing back elders to the community. 

"We need to fix up an elders home. I would like to include them. Our elders need to come home and be well taken care of," he told CBC.

He would also move to pave the roads in dusty Coral Harbour and work to procure boats to assist with search and rescue.

Nakoolak also said he would like to see about building a fishing plant and more housing in his community.

He said he would not decide to be on cabinet or consider the premiership. 

"I am thinking to start from the bottom. Not from the top, from the bottom. That is what I am thinking about, if I get elected," he said.