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MLAs vote to remove Anawak from cabinet

"When the Premier wants to get something he doesn’t act like an Inuk," former minister says

PATRICIA D’SOUZA

Jack Anawak vowed to continue fighting for his constituents in Rankin Inlet North last Friday, after MLAs voted 11-6 to remove him as a member of the executive council of the legislative assembly.

He said his first act as a regular MLA would be to ask Premier Paul Okalik to present members with a chronology of events on the transfer of 13 petroleum products division jobs to Baker Lake from Rankin Inlet.

Anawak insists a final decision on the PPD transfer was never made. "As a result of my removal [as minister for the department of culture, language, elders and youth] no further discussion took place."

Okalik confirmed the theory in an interview after the vote, saying cabinet reached an "agreement-in-principle" in October.

"It was not a final decision, it was an agreement-in-principle, which means that we still have time to work out the details on how that move will take place," he said.

Anawak says the chronology of events "will show that there was a double standard, which will show that there was a bending of the truth, which will show that there was some horse-trading, which will also show that when the Premier wants to get something, he doesn’t act like an Inuk."

What exactly it means to "act like an Inuk" was the subject of some discussion in the legislature on the day of the vote, as MLAs spoke in defence or opposition of the motion to remove Anawak.

"Someone mentioned earlier that Inuit traditions are being used here. I couldn’t disagree more! A rebellious person would have been given a slap and a warning not to do it again, and the next time he would be told he is on his own and leave," said Amittuq MLA Enoki Irqittuq during his allotted 20 minutes.

"That one little issue that is being used to remove the minister, now you’re saying that we’re using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, that is absolutely nothing. There’s absolutely nothing in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit that we’re using in this procedure and in this process."

The PPD issue is a side issue, Irqittuq and other Anawak supporters say. Anawak agrees.

"The issue was not the PPD move to Baker Lake. The issue was in this case, Jack Anawak, and let’s get him out and here’s a good way to do it," he said.

If getting rid of Anawak was what the Premier wanted to do, he had the strength of cabinet in his favour, and used it to his advantage. He directed cabinet ministers to vote with the government. They were not allowed to abstain.

"I felt this issue went to the core of our government and I asked my cabinet colleagues for their support," Okalik said.

He gave Manitok Thompson, the minister of community government and transportation, special permission to vote against the motion, because she represents the riding of Rankin Inlet South, which is also affected by the PPD transfer.

Ed Picco, the minister of health and social services, was the last MLA to stand in favour of the motion when a recorded vote was called. He eventually rose, reluctantly.

He said later in an interview that he voted in favour of the motion because he was instructed to do so.

"The Premier made it very clear that the vote was considered a vote in confidence of the government," Picco said. "And as the Premier stated, he expects that the cabinet would be supportive of the motion. It was judged to be an integrity component of the motion for the government itself. In that case, you have to support the position of government, which is the Premier’s position."

By press-time this week, Anawak had not asked his first question in the assembly.

He was absent from the house for most of the week after a relative was killed in Rankin Inlet.

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