Nunavut NDP candidate Lori Idlout, a lawyer prior to her election as MP in 2021, said her focus is to work towards increasing resources and ensuring the skills, wisdom and knowledge Nunavummiut have are utilized to help make the territory secure and prosperous.

鈥淣unavummiut Inuit have lived in the North all these years. They've got generations of knowledge that they still use out on the land as hunters and trappers, as seamstresses,鈥� Idlout said.

鈥淲e really just need to help make sure that we're lifting them up to help them realize that they do have expertise, that they do have amazing skills, and that their wisdom can be used to help alleviate poverty, to help make sure that Nunavummiut are enjoying life as Canadians.鈥�

Idlout said her top priority is to secure more investments in Nunavut, particularly in housing and infrastructure.

鈥淔or example, even though we were able to get more funding for Indigenous housing in Sanirajak, where I am right now [on April 2], there are still about 200 people that have been on the waiting list for too long. There are still too many families, multi-generational families, that are in one house.

鈥淭hey've also spoken with me about the condition of the housing. There are too many houses that are still moulded, and we need to make sure that we're increasing investments in housing as well as infrastructure.鈥�

In terms of infrastructure, Idlout said that issue ties in with her second priority of Arctic security.

鈥淚 think that we need to make sure that we have enhancements for airports as well as marine infrastructure.

鈥淢y second priority is making sure that Inuit and 快盈v3ers are engaged in Arctic security and Arctic sovereignty, given the risks and the threats that we hear on a daily basis with the American administration. A huge priority needs to be that there's engagement,鈥� she said.

After a recent visit to Nunavut by new Prime Minister Mark Carney, Idlout said the MP for Nunavut will have to have a 鈥渟trong voice.鈥�

鈥淏ecause Carney's announcement included $6 billion to work with Australia on military investments... and the investment for Nunavut was only just over $200 million, I believe.

鈥淎nd that $200 million was in three different areas, which is nowhere enough to have Inuit and 快盈v3ers engaged in Arctic security and Arctic sovereignty.

鈥淪o, given that there's such huge risk right now, we need to make sure that there's a huge focus to make sure that Inuit and 快盈v3ers' knowledge and expertise are used to help keep the Arctic secure,鈥� Idlout said.

The third priority for the NDP candidate is to help lower the cost of living, she said.

鈥淚n our work with the NDP, we were able to help, for example, extend the Inuit Child First Initiative, which the Liberals were planning to cut. We got them to extend it by another year because it provides so much support for Inuit children and families so that they can afford food.

鈥淚've worked very hard to make sure that Nutrition North can be revamped, but the Liberal government has been very slow to act, and Nunavummiut are consistently telling me that the cost of living is becoming unbearable, and so addressing making living in the North more affordable is a huge priority as well.鈥�

Idlout said the 鈥淥ttawa knows best鈥� approach taken by previous governments has 鈥渙bviously not worked鈥� in the North.

鈥淪o, decades of Liberal and Conservative under-investments are showing in the social indicators that we see in Inuit and Nunavummiut," she said. 鈥淎nd if we make better investments for Nunavummiut, we could ensure that they're helping to be engaged in Arctic security and Arctic sovereignty.鈥�

The federal election is set for April 28.