Paul Quassa | |
---|---|
4th Premier of Nunavut | |
In office November 21, 2017 –June 14, 2018 | |
Commissioner | Nellie Kusugak |
Preceded by | Peter Taptuna |
Succeeded by | Joe Savikataaq |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for Aggu | |
In office October 28,2013 –August 13,2021 | |
Preceded by | district created |
Succeeded by | Joanna Quassa |
11th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut | |
In office February 26,2020 –August 13,2021 | |
Preceded by | Simeon Mikkungwak |
Succeeded by | Tony Akoak |
Personal details | |
Born | Igloolik,Northwest Territories (now Nunavut) | January 12,1952
Political party | non-partisan consensus government |
Relatives | Joanna Quassa (sister in-law) |
Occupation | Indigenous land claims negotiator,journalist and MLA in Nunavut |
Paul Aarulaaq Quassa (born January 12,1952) [1] is a Canadian politician who served as the fourth premier of Nunavut from November 2017 to June 2018. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut,representing Aggu from 2013 until 2021. [2]
An Inuk,Quassa became involved in Inuit politics at the age of 20,and was one of the chief negotiators of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement that created the modern territory of Nunavut.
Quassa was born in Manitok,a hunting camp near Igloolik. [3] Born in an igloo,he was raised for the first years of his life in what he described as "the Inuit traditional way of life",part of the last generation to do so. At the age of six,he was taken to a Canadian Indian residential school in Churchill,Manitoba. [4]
He returned to Igloolik in 1972 to work on land claims and served as president of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut in the early 1990s. [5] He was one of the negotiators of,and a signatory of,the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement settlement that led to the establishment of Nunavut. [3] [6]
He was dropped from the presidency of TFN in 1992 following allegations of sexual assault against a woman, [7] but received a discharge in court [8] and was subsequently reinstated as president of the organization and the successor Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. [9] Quassa also worked as a journalist with CBC North,the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and Isuma Productions. [4]
First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2013 election, [10] he represents the electoral district of Aggu. He served in the Executive Council of Nunavut as Minister of Education during the 4th Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. [11] As Education Minister,he unsuccessfully attempted to introduce bilingual education in schools,in both English and Inuktitut. [4]
He was reelected in the 2017 election,and was subsequently selected as premier at the Nunavut Leadership Forum under the territory's consensus government system. [3]
On June 14,2018,he lost a non-confidence vote by 16–3,with two abstentions. The motion of no-confidence was tabled by MLA John Main,in response to what Main described as an "autocratic style" of leadership,and wider criticism by MLAs of the spending decisions made by Quassa's government. [12]
Quassa was replaced as Premier by former deputy premier Joe Savikataaq. [13]
On February 26,2020,he was selected as the new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut following the resignation of Simeon Mikkungwak from the legislature the previous day. [14] He did not seek re-election in 2021.
Igloolik is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin,Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut,northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula,it is often mistakenly thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here". It derives from iglu meaning house or building,and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area,not to snow igloos. In Inuktitut the residents are called Iglulingmiut.
Paul Okalik is a Canadian politician. He is the first Inuk to have been called to the Nunavut Bar. He was also the first premier of Nunavut.
Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner is a 2001 Canadian epic film directed by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and produced by his company Isuma Igloolik Productions. It was the first feature film ever to be written,directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language.
Zacharias Kunuk is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner,the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut. He is the president and co-founder with Paul Qulitalik,Paul Apak Angilirq,and Norman Cohn,of Igloolik Isuma Productions,Canada's first independent Inuit production company. Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner (2001),the first feature film that was entirely in Inuktitut was named as the greatest Canadian film of all time by the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival poll.
Tagak Curley is an Inuit leader,politician and businessman from Nunavut. As a prominent figure in the negotiations that led to the creation of Nunavut,Tagak is considered a living Father of Confederation in Canada. He was born in a hunting camp at Coral Harbour,Northwest Territories.
Levinia Nuqaalaq Brown is a Canadian Inuk politician who served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the electoral district of Rankin Inlet South/Whale Cove in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut from 2004 to 2008. She was elected as a MLA on February 16,2004,and further elected by other MLAs to serve on the Executive Council of Nunavut. Premier Paul Okalik named her as the Deputy Premier on March 9,2004. She also served as the territory's Minister of Community and Government Services.
Nunavut is the largest,easternmost,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 self-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.
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on May 25,1993,in Iqaluit,by representatives of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut,the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. This agreement gave the Inuit of the central and eastern Northwest Territories a separate territory called Nunavut. It is the largest Aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history.
Isuma is an artist collective and Canada's first Inuit-owned (75%) production company,co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk,Paul Apak Angilirq and Norman Cohn in Igloolik,Nunavut in 1990. Known internationally for its award-winning film,Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner,the first feature film ever to be written,directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language,Isuma was selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Venice Biennale where they screened the film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk,the first presentation of art by Inuit in the Canada Pavilion.
Norman Cohn is a U.S.-born Canadian film director,producer,cinematographer and editor best known for his work on films Atanarjuat:The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.
Peter Taptuna is a Canadian politician who served as the third premier of Nunavut from 2013 to 2017.
Monica Inunak Ell-Kanayuk is a Canadian politician and broadcaster who served in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut from 2011 until 2017 and president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada from 2018 until 2022. Prior to her election as an MLA,she was a director of programming at the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation,president of the Baffin Chamber of Commerce,and owner-and-operator of sewing company Arctic Creations.
Joe Enook was a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the district of Tununiq in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in a by-election on September 12,2011. He was re-elected in 2013 and 2017. In 2017,he was acclaimed as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut,the office he held until his death in March 2019. During his tenure as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and as its Speaker,he rarely addressed the legislature in English,as he preferred to promote the use of Inuktitut.
Joe Savikataaq is a Canadian politician who served as the fifth premier of Nunavut from 2018 to 2021. He was elected premier on June 14,2018 by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut,after his predecessor Paul Quassa lost a no-confidence vote.
Lucy Tulugarjuk is an Inuit actress,throat singer,and director. She is executive director for the Nunavut Independent Television Network.
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.
Kelly Fraser was a Canadian Inuk pop singer and songwriter,whose second album,Sedna,received a Juno Award nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018.
Lori Idlout is a Canadian politician who has served as member of parliament for the riding of Nunavut in the House of Commons of Canada since 2021. She is a member of the New Democratic Party.
Pauloosie Jamesie Akeeagok is a Canadian Inuk politician who in 2021 became the sixth and current premier of Nunavut. He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2021 Nunavut general election. He represents the electoral district of Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu.
Joanna Quassa is a Canadian Inuk politician,who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2021 Nunavut general election. She represents the electoral district of Aggu.