Nunavut ex-premier chosen as Speaker

Former Nunavut premier Paul Okalik has been elected Speaker of the territory's legislature, a day after the current premier and cabinet passed a midterm leadership review.

Okalik, who is currently the MLA for Iqaluit West, was chosen as Speaker on Thursday afternoon. He was premier of Nunavut from 1999 until 2008, when he lost his third premiership bid to Eva Aariak.

On Wednesday, Aariak and her six cabinet ministers survived a midterm leadership review in which they risked losing their executive positions.

Okalik succeeds Uqqummiut MLA James Arreak, who stepped down as Speaker on Thursday to seek a vacant seat on cabinet. Arreak won that seat, but his ministerial portfolios have yet to be assigned.

The cabinet vacancyresulted from the resignation this week of Amittuq MLA Louis Tapardjuk, who had previously been the minister of culture, language, elders and youth.

'Time for moving on'

Okalik, who has been an outspoken critic of Aariak's government,said he is fine with his new role, even though the Speaker is notallowed to engage in legislative debates such as question period.

"There's a time for moving on," Okalik told reporters outside the legislature.

"There's personalities that are often the focus when you should be focusing on the issues, so I felt that at this time I should be trying to be helpful in a different capacity."

Okalik said he will continue to work hard on behalf of his constituents in Iqaluit West.

Under Nunavut's consensus-based model of government, in which there are no political parties, MLAs select their Speaker, premier and cabinet members among their peers shortly after they are elected. Those who are not chosen to be in cabinet are known as regular members.

Relieved with confidence vote

Prior to Wednesday's confidence vote, there had been speculation that some cabinet ministers, including Aariak, could be voted out their cabinet posts.

Some regular MLAs have said they had doubts with Aariak's performance over the past two years she has been premier given current concerns about the government's finances.

But in secret-ballot voting held late Wednesday afternoon, the majority of MLAs expressed confidence in Aariak and each ofthe six cabinet ministers.

"There was a certain level of uncertainty with this hanging over our heads, so it will certainly help us to focus more," Aariak told reporters following Wednesday's vote.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott said he and other regular members took a hard look at themselves before casting their votes.

"We sat down and looked at ourselves and said, 'OK, if we were being reviewed and under the microscope, too, as regular members, what would we say and what would we do to justify what we've done in the last two years?'"

Can finish mandate

Elliott and other regular MLAs have expressed outrage with the government's handling of an unprecedented $110 million in cost overruns at the Nunavut Housing Corp., the territory's public housing agency.

Defending her record prior to the confidence vote, Aariak told MLAs that getting a handle on government spending has been her government's priorities, along with reducing poverty and pushing for a devolution agreement with the federal government.

Aariak said her government will continue with those efforts, now that it can finish its four-year mandate. Aariak's term runs until the fall of 2012.

"The best hunter is not the one who wins the race; he is the one who makes it home, no matter what the conditions are. Good government is the same," Aariak said in the legislature.

"We have faced significant challenges in trying to achieve our goals, but we continue our efforts to build the Nunavut of the future."