Elisapee Sheutiapik is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician, who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

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 ...

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

, 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 Ap ...

in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

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 ( iu, ᓰᐲᓰ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ, lit=CBC Northwest, translit=, SiiPiiSii Ukiuqtaqtumi; cr, ᓰᐲᓰ ᒌᐌᑎᓅᑖᐦᒡ, label=cr, SiiPiiSii Chiiwetinuutaahch; french: Radio-Canada Nord) is the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...

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 run ...

, which had the highest voter turnout at 90.2 per cent, but was defeated by incumbent MLA

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 ...

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 Madeleine Redfern (born 1967) is a Canadian Inuit politician, who was elected mayor of Iqaluit, Nunavut in a by-election on December 13, 2010. She was the city's mayor until 2019. She was born in Iqaluit (then called Frobisher Bay, Northwest ...

. In the 2017 Nunavut territorial election, Sheutiapik again faced off against Okalik in the riding of Iqaluit-Sinaa. 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 Lucie Idlout (born Tatanniq Lucie d'Argencourt, 1972/1973) is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is the daughter of Leah Idlout-Paulson and granddaughter of Joseph Idlout. After the release of several EPs, Idlout's first full ...

on a national project to have cities across Canada name a city street "Angel" as a memorial to Canadian victims of domestic violence. 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 Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

, Regina,

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and 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 ...

and

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, ...

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 Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Executive Council of Nunavut Inuit activists