Elisapee Sheutiapik is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Iqaluit Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the territory's largest community and its only city, and the northernmost city in Canada. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on ...

Nunavut Nunavut 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'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

, from 2003 to 2010, and was elected 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 ...

in the 2017 general election.

Mayoralty

She won the mayoral election in 2003, defeating the incumbent mayor John Matthews by 40 votes, and was

acclaimed An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

to a second term in 2006. On 10 September 2008,

CBC North CBC North (; ; ) is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and television service for the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon of Northern Canada as well as Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik in the Nord-du-Québec region of Quebec. Hist ...

reported that Sheutiapik would be taking a leave of absence to run in the Nunavut election. She ran in

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 ru ...

, which had the highest voter turnout at 90.2 per cent, but was defeated by incumbent MLA Paul Okalik by 44 votes. She subsequently returned to the mayor's chair. On 19 October 2009, Sheutiapik won a third term as mayor of Iqaluit. Her opponent was former city councillor Jim Little, who took 42.3% of the vote as opposed to 57.7% for Sheutiapik. On November 9, 2010, she announced her resignation as mayor effective December 13. She was succeeded by Madeleine Redfern. In the 2017 Nunavut territorial election, Sheutiapik again faced off against Okalik in the riding of

Iqaluit-Sinaa Iqaluit-Sinaa () is a territorial electoral district( riding) for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada. The riding consists of part of what was Iqaluit West and Iqaluit Centre. The district was created prior to the 28 October 2013 gen ...

. This time, she won with 44.8% of the vote, defeating him with 237 votes to 150, as well as two other candidates.

Activism

Sheutiapik, whose sister Mary Ann was murdered by an abusive relative in 1997, has collaborated with Iqaluit-based rock singer Lucie Idlout on a national project to have cities across Canada name a city street "Angel" as a memorial to Canadian victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. As of 2014, cities that have named Angel Streets as part of the campaign included St. John's,

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Regina,

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

and

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheutiapik, Elisapee Mayors of Iqaluit Inuit politicians Women mayors of places in Nunavut Canadian Inuit women Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Women MLAs in Nunavut 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut 21st-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit women Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Executive Council of Nunavut Inuit activists 21st-century mayors of places in Nunavut