Panniuq Karetak started paying attention to politics around 1999 when Nunavut became its own territory and everyone was wondering who was going to become their first MLA and who would become the territory's first premier.

He said his aunt Nancy Karetak-Lindell held the office of MP (member of Parliament) in 1999. He was about 14 years old at the time, and he recalls being greatly excited by the birth of Nunavut on April 1, 1999.

鈥淥ur family has always been involved in politics, so I grew up around political conversations,鈥� said Karetak, now 38. 鈥� It's good for young people, in general, to stay as informed as possible because it's something they're going to live with for the rest of their lives.

鈥淚'm not too sure if I believe those who don't vote don't have the right to complain. Sometimes a person may not actually get to vote for one reason or another. I always tried to take the opportunity to educate people when I could, as in if you don't like it, here's what you can do.

鈥淚 never swayed to the silencing people side. I always tried to encourage people to educate themselves. You don't need to do a lot and it doesn't take you a great deal of time to figure things out.鈥�

Karetak said the cost of living is always a hot topic at election time, as well as infrastructure and housing issues.

He said he's very interested to see how things work in Arviat with the addition of a modular home factory 鈥� capable of producing up to 40 homes annually at peak production 鈥� being constructed.

鈥淎 lot of money has been invested into that, so I'm sure it will go smoothly," he said.

Nunavut's elections have seen the same people running year after year, he pointed out.

鈥淭o be honest, for a few years now, I've been kind of looking for the next generation to step in and you're kind of starting to see that now with the latest Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. elections, which was nice to see.

鈥淚'd like to see a lot more of that. That's for sure.鈥�

Karetak said younger people need to get more involved and start taking politics more seriously.

One thing that seems to prevent people from doing so is the unknown, he suggested.

鈥淭hey don't really know what they're getting themselves into and that might be a little intimidating to some. I find there's definitely always the possibility of scrutiny and confrontation.

鈥淎nd, living in isolated areas, there's really no running away from people. That's one thing that really makes it a big challenge up here.鈥�

Karetak said there's almost always a lack of candidates at the municipal level.

It's not that family members are voting for each other, rather, the ones who have run in politics for a long time have somewhat of a proven track record and a lot of experience.

鈥淎nd then, when you get someone who nobody really knows about, voters tend to stay on the safe side. I feel there's a lot more that could be done at the municipal level. Right now, it seems to me that the regional Inuit organizations are doing the majority of funding programs and economic development, which is a good thing, but I'd like to see the municipalities doing more.

鈥淚 think there's opportunity for municipalities to get themselves in the game, too, when it comes to economic development. The reason why we haven't seen that yet is because it's a complex topic.

鈥淚 don't think too many people understand economics and I think that's why you don't see candidates prioritizing things of that nature.

鈥淗opefully we'll see that develop over time, especially when a large community like Rankin Inlet continues to grow.鈥�