Samuel Nuqinqaq returns to Nunavut legislature after alcohol treatment
The MLA for Uqqummiut made his first appearance in Nunavut’s legislature last week after two months of alcohol addiction treatment in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.
Samuel Nuqingaq says he feels better than he did five months ago.
“I had an addiction problem and I dealt with it and I feel a lot better now,” he says. “If you’d asked me five or six months ago, it would be totally different.”
Nuqingaq was at the legislature for standing committee hearings last week. It was the first time he’d been in the legislature since his suspension in March, and a chance for Nuqingaq to start getting up to speed on the business of running the territory.
He says he’s not allowed to vote on anything until the fall session starts in October. He can ask questions during the hearings, though he hasn’t posed any yet.
Nuqingaq says he’s feeling more engaged in the legislative process, but admits: “I know it's going to be challenging when we have our sitting in October.”
Nuqingaq blames a trauma he experienced “four or five years ago” for his addiction. He says getting treatment was the right choice. It was his decision, he says, but the Nunavut government helped pay for it.
“I kept so many secrets inside of me and I let it out and I feel a lot better now,” he says.
"I just want to tell people that are in Nunavut that if they have problems just seek help just like I did. And it helped me."
In court in October for assault charge
But a cloud is still hanging over Nuqingaq.
He's scheduled to appear in court in Qikiqtarjuaq at the end of October to answer to one charge of being unlawfully in a dwelling house and a charge of assault.
The offences are alleged to have occurred in the community on February 24, 2014.
Problems began right away
Nuqingaq won the election to represent the Baffin communities of Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River by just two votes last October.
The next month, he was disciplined by the legislature’s management board for missing two days of orientation and the morning of the leadership forum.
In March, MLAs voted to suspend Nuqingaq from the legislature, without giving a clear reason for the move.
In late May, after his criminal charges had come to light, MLAs voted to extend that suspension until July 16.
Clyde River mayor pleased
Clyde River Mayor Jerry Natanine says he’s happy to have an MLA again, especially as his community continues to fights seismic testing off Baffin Island.
Natanine says Nuqingaq has already joined in the battle.
“He did write a letter to the Prime Minister and he got a response,” Natanine says.
Nuqingaq says he thinks his suspensions and treatment were hard on his constituents.
"I have to just work with both communities on what they want me to say in the legislature,” he says.
"I apologize for my action and just have to live it day by day."