The premier of Nunavut ( iu, ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ;

Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe th ...

: ''Hivuliqti Nunavunmi''; french: premier ministre du Nunavut) is the

first minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

for the Canadian

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

. The premier is the territory's

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

, although their powers are somewhat more limited than those of a provincial premier. Unlike most other premiers who are officially appointed by a

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

on account of their leadership of a majority bloc in the legislature, the premier, and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, is directly elected by the non-partisan members of the

Legislative Assembly of Nunavut The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the legislative assembly for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The seat of the Assembly is the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit. Prior to the creation of Nunavut as a Canadian territory on Apr ...

, in accordance with the system of consensus government. The premier is formally appointed by the

commissioner of Nunavut The commissioner of Nunavut ( iu, ᑲᒥᓯᓇ ᓄᓇᕗᒧᑦ; Inuinnaqtun: ''Kamisinauyuq Nunavunmut''; french: Commissaire du Nunavut) is the Government of Canada's representative in the territory of Nunavut. The current commissioner since Janu ...

, who is bound to act on the Assembly's recommendation by both the

Nunavut Act The history of Nunavut covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Eskimo thousands of years ago to present day. Prior to the colonization of the continent by Europeans, the lands encompassing present-day Nunavut were inhabited by several ...

and convention.

History

The territory's first premier,

Paul Okalik Paul Okalik ( iu, ᐹᓪ ᐅᑲᓕᖅ, ; born May 26, 1964) 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. On November 4, 2010, he was elected Speaker of the Leg ...

, was elected after the 1999 general elections. He was re-elected to a second term after the 2004 general elections. Although Okalik was re-elected to a third term after the 2008 general elections in the

Iqaluit West Iqaluit West was a territorial electoral district ( riding) for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada. The riding consists of the community of Iqaluit. Its most recent Member of the Legislative Assembly was Paul Okalik who resigned to run ...

riding, he was defeated by newly elected MLA

Eva Aariak Eva Qamaniq Aariak ( iu, ᐄᕙ ᐋᕆᐊᒃ, ; born January 10, 1955) is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. S ...

in the premiership vote on November 14. On 15 November, 2013,

Peter Taptuna Peter Taptuna (born ) is a Canadian politician who served as the third premier of Nunavut from 2013 to 2017. He was first elected in the general election held on October 27, 2008, to represent Nunavut’s most western riding of Kugluktuk, in the ...

beat out Okalik and

Paul Quassa Paul Aarulaaq Quassa (born January 12, 1952) 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 ...

for the position of premier. Quassa was elected in 2017 but lost a confidence vote in 2018 which lead to the election of Joe Savikataaq. P.J. Akeeagok was selected to become premier in the Nunavut Leadership Forum on November 17, 2021 defeating Savikataaq.Trevor Knight
"MLA candidates on the issues: P.J. Akeeagok, Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu"
''

Northern News Services NNSL Media (Northern News Services LTD) is a news and media company based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is one of the few remaining independent newspaper companies in Canada, producing all-original content with little to no reliance ...

'', October 21, 2021.

Premiers of Nunavut

References

External links

Premier of Nunavut Official Site

Government of Nunavut

Politics of Nunavut Lists of people from Nunavut * Nunavut politics-related lists {{canada-gov-stub

History

Premiers of Nunavut

See also

References

External links