Nunavut election result not validated as ballot box held up in cargo by blizzard

The federal election result in Nunavut still has not been validated by Elections Canada, because one final ballot box has been delayed by a blizzard.

NDP incumbent Lori Idlout won the unofficial result by 77 votes over Liberal candidate Kilikvak Kabloona.

Elections Canada has a validation process to confirm the unofficial count completed on election night, but the final box from the community of Naujaat has not made it to Iqaluit to be tallied.

Returning officer Jean-Claude Nguyen confirmed to The Canadian Press the box is stuck at the airline cargo facility in Rankin Inlet.

Iqaluit was hit by a rare late-spring blizzard on Thursday, cancelling flights into the capital and leaving the community without power for about seven hours.

Nguyen said there are fewer than 100 votes in the ballot box, however, and hopes to validate the result by the end of the week.

In the meantime, Idlout hasn't been sworn in, something she says has been frustrating. 

"Constituents are expecting their MP to respond to them and right now, while I've been elected without the validation, I still can't be sworn in and I still can't officially act as the MP," she said.

Idlout says the delays also highlight the importance of air travel for her constituents. 

"It impacts the cost of living, it impacts ability for families to visit with each other that are in different communities, it impacts medical travel, there's such a huge reliance on it," she said. 

"It makes me realize how much I'll have to put the pressure on the federal government to ensure proper investments to update and enhance air travel facilities in Nunavut so that airlines can have less barriers to provide reliable, affordable air services in the North." 

She says she has been receiving residents' requests and she's looking forward to being officially sworn in so she can advocate for Nunavummiut.