Government
Article 4 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement made provision for the creation of a devolved government to legislate for the new territory of Nunavut. Due to the population of Nunavut being predominantly Inuit, this government can be portrayed as Inuit self rule according to Légaré (Légaré 2008, p347). Nunavut is owned, in the majority, by the Canadian governments this land is called Crown Lands and makes up 82% of Nunavut. the other 18% is Inuit owned lands, controlled by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (Légaré 2008, p347). Revenues from the use of resources found in Nunavut go directly to either the Canadian government or Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. We will look at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc more in the Devolution section later. On the right you can see a diagram of the Nunavut's devolved government. The most striking thing about the Nunavut government is that it is run entirely without party allegiances or platforms. Elections are held every five years across the 22 constituencies of Nunavut. The Legislative assembly is made up of 22 members, each elected from one of the 22 constituencies (Legislative Assembly of Nunavut 2015) One from these is selected as the Premier to lead the cabinet of ministers. The Premier then chooses their cabinet from the members of the Legislative Assembly and assigns their responsibilities. To pass any law in Nunavut, the law must be proposed by the premier and their cabinet to the Legislative Assembly and must be approved by more than half of all 22 members, which will include the premier and cabinet. Nunavut has a Commissioner, selected by the Canadian government, as a figure head with no real responsibility who serves as the "head of government" for five years but the power is really held by the Legislative Assembly (Légaré 2008, p348). |
Nunavut's CommissionerHon. Edna Elias.
Commissioner of Nunavut. |
The Nunavut Cabinet
Hon. Peter Taptuna.
Premier of Nunavut. Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs. Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs. Minister responsible for the Utility Rates Review Council. |
Hon. Monica Ell.
Deputy Premier Minister of Economic Development and Transportation. Minister responsible for Mines. Minister responsible for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation. Minister responsible for the Nunavut Development Corporation. Minister of Energy. |
Hon. Tom Sammurtok.
Minister of Community and Government Services. |
Hon. George Kuksuk.
Minister of Culture and Heritage. Minister of Languages. Minister responsible for the Liquor Licensing Board. Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation. |
Hon. Jeannie Ugyuk.
Minister of Family Service. Minister responsible for Poverty Reduction Minister responsible for Homelessness. Minister responsible for the Status of Women. |
Hon. Johnny Mike.
Minister of Environment. |
Hon. Paul Okalik.
Minister of Justice. Minister responsible for the Human Rights Tribunal . Minister responsible for the Labour Standards Board. Minister of Health. Minister responsible for Immigration. |
Hon. Keith Peterson.
Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Financial Management Board. Minister responsible for the Public Agencies Council. Minister responsible for the Nunavut Liquor Commission. Minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corporation. Minister responsible for Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission. |
Hon. Paul Quassa.
Minister of Education. Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College. Government House Leader. |