Nunavut premier survives confidence vote

Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok will stay on the job after MLAs voted Wednesday afternoon on whether to remove him.

Ten MLAs voted to keep him as premier, while eight voted to remove him.

Akeeagok's family, including his wife, mother and aunt, all sat behind him in the Nunavut Legislature during the vote. 

Akeeagok, 40, was chosen as premier by MLAs in 2021. 

Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki, also chair of the regular members' caucus, issued a notice of motion during Monday's sitting of the Legislative Assembly that he planned to bring a motion to have Akeeagok removed from his position.

Malliki, along with regular MLAs Alexander Sammurtok, Joseph Quqqiaq, Joelie Kaernerk, George Hickes, Joe Savikataaq, Joanna Quassa and Craig Simailak voted in favour of removing him. 

Regular MLAs Adam Arreak Lightstone, Bobby Anavilok and Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster voted against the motion to remove him, along with cabinet members David Akeeagok, David Joanasie, Pamela Gross, John Main, Daniel Qavvik and Lorne Kusugak. 

The premier also voted against the motion.

Cabinet minister Margaret Nakashuk and regular members Karen Nutarak and Mary Killiktee were not present for the vote. 

'A toxic workplace' 

Brewster, although she voted against the motion, said the premier has made "some critical errors" from the start of his leadership.

Brewster accused Akeeagok of removing an Inuk from a top bureaucratic role and creating a new role "filled by a friend."

"I questioned the premier on the creation of this position and the appointment … yet I'm still awaiting a full and proper response," Brewster said. 

"Appointing someone without political experience … has led to division and a toxic work environment."

She also called out the premier for "breaking the rules" on the recently announced purchase of new vans for elders, but didn't elaborate on how the rules were broken. 

'We simply can't rush things, or break the rules, to make the focus on announceables," Brewster said. 

Malliki also disputed the premier's claim that his door "has always been open."

"The reality is even though the door may be open, it does not mean that our questions are welcome," Malliki said. 

Health Minister John Main called the motion "a sledgehammer" and encouraged MLAs to look at other ways to solve their issues with the government, like calling witnesses. 

"It's not going to fix anything,"  Main said. 

Premier Akeeagok also stood up to make a speech, noting his government's accomplishments over the last four years. 

He said his team took "a different approach" and included regular members and Inuit organizations in their mandate, tabled mandate letters for cabinet members and delivered yearly reports on the government's progress. 

"This is accountability," he said. 

He also asked MLAs "to take a hard look today at what's happening here" and noted there is just a year left in his cabinet's mandate. 

"Are we operating as a true consensus government?" he said. 

"Could we improve as a government? Yes." 

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Akeeagok said he appreciated "all the comments that were presented" even from MLAs who voted to remove him.

"That's so important, to be told what those issues are. And for us to fix the issues, you first need to know about them," he said.

"So for that, I'm very thankful for them to be able to share with all of us areas where they see improvement could be made, and that's something I'm going to take very seriously.

"Listen, we just have just a few months left within this mandate. There's so much work that we've done, but there's so much more we need to do," he added.

This isn't the first time Nunavut MLAs have called a vote on whether to remove their premier. In 2018, Nunavut MLAs removed Paul Quassa as premier.