Nunavut’s first-ever MP appointed to Senate

The very first federal MP from Nunavut entered the Senate alongside an Acadian from Nova Scotia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.

Nancy Uqquujuq Karetak-Lindell, who was a federal Liberal MP for Nunavut from 1997 to 2008, will occupy the only seat representing this territory in the Senate.

Allister Surette, who was notably a minister in Nova Scotia from 1993 to 1998, was also appointed to the Upper House on Thursday. Mr. Surette has been rector and vice-chancellor of the Université Sainte-Anne, in Nova Scotia, since 2011, until his departure last June.

Appointments to the Upper House of Parliament are formally made by the Governor General, Mary Simon, following the recommendations of the Independent Advisory Committee on Senate Appointments.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell was elected in 1997 as federal Liberal MP for the brand new riding of Nunavut. She had also played a key role in the negotiations aimed at giving Nunavut its own constituency in the Commons, two years before this northern region obtained official territory status.

Ms. Karetak-Lindell represented Nunavut for over a decade and served for a time as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources. She also served as president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council of Canada, which represents the Inuit internationally and has status at the United Nations.

Ms. Karetak-Lindell’s appointment comes nearly a year after the retirement of former Nunavut senator Dennis Patterson. My first reaction is that it’s about time, Mr. Patterson said Thursday. The vacancy in a region with such great needs is regrettable.

Ms. Karetak-Lindell also becomes the fourth Inuit to sit in the Senate, after Willie Adams, Charlie Watt and the current senator of the Northwest Territories Dawn Anderson.

I have always admired Nancy and her appointment will mean that Nunavut will have another strong Inuit female voice in Ottawasaid Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, a New Democrat. I congratulate Nancy and look forward to working with her.

Allister Surette, for his part, had held three different portfolios during his mandate in the Nova Scotia cabinet in the mid-1990s. He was notably special advisor on Acadian and francophone governance within the Nova Scotia public school system. -Scotland. Then, from 1998 to 2003, he was president and CEO of Collège de l’Acadie, the only French-speaking community college in Nova Scotia.

Congratulations to Mr. Surette and Ms. Karetak-Lindell on their appointment as new independent senators of Parliament, said Mr. Trudeau in the press release announcing their appointment. I am confident that they will effectively represent their communities, and I look forward to working with them to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.