Edward "Ed" Walter Picco (born September 21, 1961) is a Canadian politician first elected in the 1995 Northwest Territories election. He was re-elected in the 1999 Nunavut election and in the 2004 Nunavut election. Picco is one of the few Canadian politicians elected to two different legislative assemblies, having been elected in 1995 to the

Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a uni ...

and in 1999 to 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 Ap ...

. Picco held several cabinet posts in the Government of Nunavut including Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister of Education, Immigration, Homelessness, Energy and Nunavut Arctic College. Picco had represented Iqaluit East since 1999 and was the longest serving MLA in Nunavut prior to the general election in 2008. He chose not to run in the 2008 general election and re-entered the private sector. From 2009 to 2014 he was the Director of Marketing and Sales for First Air. In 2014, he was appointed principal secretary to Premier Peter Taptuna, serving until December 2017 when the Premier's term ended.Former MLA Ed Picco takes top job in Nunavut government
/ref> In January 2018, he was Principal and co-founder of the Niksiit Group, a multi-faceted company specializing in mediation, conflict resolution and human resource training. Prior to entering politics, Picco was the Business Development Manager of the Baffin Business Development Corporation (BBDC). He holds a diploma in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University and is a graduate of the College of Trades and Technology, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

that was presented by His Royal Highness Prince Philip in recognition of his on-going support to the Terry Fox program. He is also the recipient of the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

, for community service. He is a recipient of

Iqaluit Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. In 1987, its t ...

's Volunteer of the Year award and was the local fundraising chair for the re-building of Iqaluit's St. Jude's Cathedral from 2004 to 2017.

References

Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut 21st-century Canadian politicians Living people People from Iqaluit Writers from Nunavut People from Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 1961 births Members of the Executive Council of Nunavut {{Nunavut-politician-stub