Edna Elias | |
---|---|
4th Commissioner of Nunavut | |
In office 12 May 2010 –11 May 2015 | |
Prime Minister | Stephen Harper |
Premier | Eva Aariak Peter Taptuna |
Preceded by | Nellie Kusugak (acting) |
Succeeded by | Nellie Kusugak [1] |
Personal details | |
Born | 1954or1955(age 68–69) [2] Kugluktuk,Nunavut |
Nationality | Canadian |
Relations | Christian Klengenberg (great grandfather) |
Edna Agnes Ekhivalak Elias CM ONu (born c. 1955) is a Canadian politician from Kugluktuk,Nunavut. On 12 May 2010 she was appointed as the fourth commissioner of Nunavut by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. [3] [4] Her term ended on 11 May 2015. [5]
Elias,who was in 2009 appointed to Inuit Uqausinnginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit (the Inuit Language Authority),has also served as the mayor of Kugluktuk and principal of Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik (primary school),as well as teaching in Arctic Bay and working as an executive assistant for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated in Cambridge Bay. [3] [6] [7] Prior to division of the Northwest Territories in 1999 she was the head of the Department of Culture and Employment's language bureau. [3] Elias,who is fluent in Inuinnaqtun,has stated that her goal as commissioner will be to promote education and the Inuit languages. [8]
In December 2011,it was announced that Elias,along with Elisabeth Hadlari,Donna Olsen-Hakongak,Crystal Qaumariaq,Jeannie Ehaloak,all of Cambridge Bay,and Jamie McInnis of Calgary would try to raise $70,000 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation to help support breast cancer research and the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. To raise the money the six women planned to walk across the Coronation Gulf from Umingmaktok to Cambridge Bay,approximately 250 km (160 mi),in May 2012. The group hoped to walk between 40–48 km (25–30 mi) a day and taking 5 to 6 days to reach Cambridge Bay in time for the Frolics which are held over the Victoria Day weekend. [9] [10] Average temperatures in Cambridge Bay during May are −9.3 °C (15.3 °F). [11]
Elias was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019. [12] She was made a Member of the Order of Nunavut in 2010 by virtue of her office as Commissioner of Nunavut.
Elias is the great-granddaughter of Danish whaler,trapper,and trader,Christian Klengenberg.
The commissioner of Nunavut is the Government of Canada's representative in the territory of Nunavut. The current commissioner since January 14,2021 is Eva Aariak.
Kitikmeot Region is an administrative region of Nunavut,Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula,together with King William Island and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. The regional centre is Cambridge Bay.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Nunavut since 20 July 2005. The Canadian territory began granting marriage licences to same-sex couples upon the granting of royal assent to the federal Civil Marriage Act. Previously,in October 2003,Premier Paul Okalik had announced that same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions would be legally recognized in Nunavut.
Ann Meekitjuk Hanson was the third commissioner of Nunavut. She served from April 21,2005,until April 10,2010. Hanson,like all Inuit born between the 1940s and the 1970s,was labelled with a disc number by the Government of Canada,which,in her case was E7-121.
Kugluktuk,known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996,is a hamlet at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut,Canada,on Coronation Gulf,southwest of Victoria Island. It is Nunavut's westernmost community,near the border with the Northwest Territories.
Jose Kusugak was an Inuk politician from Repulse Bay,Northwest Territories,Canada. He is an activist for Inuit rights,language and culture.
Lena Pedersen or Lena Pederson is a politician and social worker from Nunavut,Canada. In 1959,she moved from Greenland to the Northwest Territories and lived in Coppermine (Kugluktuk),Pangnirtung and Rae (Behchoko) before moving to Cape Dorset where she participated in the artwork sales of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative.
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1,1999,via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act,which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen is a former territorial-level Canadian politician. In 1953,he got a job in the Canadian Arctic with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Cambridge Bay,Nunavut. In the following year,he was sent to Perry River (Kuugjuak) to assist Stephen Angulalik,the Ahiarmiut Inuit owner of the trading post,with the financial records,inventory and ordering,as Angulalik spoke no English. In 1957,Angulalik sold the Perry River post to the HBC and Pedersen was appointed manager. Angulalik returned to the post after resolving legal problems and worked alongside Pedersen;they became lifelong friends. He was,at one time,married to Lena Pedersen and their grandson,Calvin Pedersen was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020.
Rebekah Uqi Williams was a Canadian politician who served as the acting commissioner of Nunavut from June 22,2020,when Nellie Kusugak's term ended,until January 14,2021,when Eva Aariak took office. She served as the Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut from December 20,2019 until December 2022. She also served as a former territorial level politician from Arctic Bay,Northwest Territories,now part of Nunavut. Williams previously served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut from 2000 until 2004.
The 2008 Nunavut General Election was held on October 27,2008,to return members to the 3rd Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. The election was contested across 15 of Nunavut's 19 electoral districts under the first past the post system of voting. Due to local circumstances,the election was delayed in two districts,and two districts did not hold elections as their incumbent MLAs faced no opposition and were acclaimed back into office.
Lorne Kusugak is a Canadian politician who is the member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the electoral district of Rankin Inlet South. Prior to becoming an MLA,Kusugak was the mayor of Rankin Inlet. Kusugak served as the Nunavut Minister for Community and Government Services,Minister for Energy and the Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation.
Eva Qamaniq Aariaka is a Canadian Inuk politician,who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. She was subsequently chosen as the second premier of Nunavut,under the territory's consensus government system,on November 14,2008. Aariak was the fifth woman to serve as a premier in Canada.
Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak is a Canadian educator who served as the fifth commissioner of Nunavut from June 2015 to June 2020.
The Order of Nunavut is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Instituted in 2010 it is the highest honour which can be bestowed by the Government of Nunavut. It is intended to honour current and former residents of the territory.
The 2017 Nunavut general election was held on October 30,2017 to return the members of the 5th Nunavut Legislature. The fifth general election held since the creation of the territory in 1999,it was the first election held under Nunavut's new fixed election dates law,which requires elections to be held no more than four years after the prior election.
Mila Adjukak Kamingoak is a Canadian politician,who represents the electoral district of Kugluktuk in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut as of October 30,2017. Kamingoak was the only candidate to register in her district by the close on September 29 of nominations for the 2017 general election,and was thus acclaimed directly to office. She had previously intended to run and challenge Premier Peter Taptuna,but was acclaimed to the position as the former had dropped out.
Cannabis in Nunavut,as in the rest of Canada,became legal for recreational use on the effective date of the Cannabis Act on 17 October 2018.