Jack Iyerak Anawak (born September 26, 1950) is a Canadian politician. He represented the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Nunatsiaq in the

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from 1988 to 1997. He sat in the house as a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. Following his retirement from federal politics, he also served a term in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut after that territory was created in 1999. He ran as the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

's candidate for his old riding, now renamed

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 ...

, in the 2015 election, but was defeated by Liberal candidate Hunter Tootoo.

Political career

Federal politics

Anawak was first elected in the 1988 election, and served as the Liberal Party's opposition critic for Northern Affairs in the 34th Canadian Parliament. Re-elected in the 1993 election, which was won by the Liberals, he was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in the government of

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

Territorial politics

In 1999, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the seat of Rankin Inlet North. He was widely favoured to be the new territory's first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

. However, he was perceived as the choice of the Chrétien government. The Assembly, which operates on a nonpartisan consensus model, selected Paul Okalik instead. Anawak did not run for re-election in 2004. He tried to return to the Assembly in the 2008 Nunavut general election, filing nomination papers to run in the electoral district of Akulliq. Elections Nunavut Chief Electoral Officer Sandy Kusugak rejected his candidacy, as he was not a full-time resident of Nunavut at the time his nomination papers were filed. Anawak took Elections Nunavut to court and managed to halt the election in that district pending his appeal, but on November 6, the Nunavut Court of Justice threw out the election challenge. Anawak ran again in the 2013 territorial election, but finished fourth in the Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu riding.

Return to federal politics

In 2015, Anawak announced his intent to take back his old riding, now renamed

, in the 2015 election. This time, he ran as the candidate of the

. He came second in the race.

Popular culture

When the Canadian two-dollar coin was introduced, a number of nicknames were suggested. Jack Anawak proposed the name " Nanuq" anook, polar bear">polar_bear.html" ;"title="anook, polar bear">anook, polar bearin honour of Canadian Inuit and their northern culture; however, this culturally meaningful proposal went largely unnoticed beside the simple, mass-appeal "Canadian 2 dollar coin, Twonie/Toonie".

Municipal politics

Anawak was elected to Iqaluit City Council in the 2023 municipal election.

Canadian Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs

Anawak served as Canadian Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs from January 2004 until 2006 when the position was discontinued by the Harper government. Its functions were transferred to the bureaucratic level.

Electoral history

References

External links

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Jack Iyerak Anawak on Two-Dollar Coin - Hansard April 26th, 1996Inuktitut Living Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anawak, Jack 1950 births 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 20th-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit people Canadian actor-politicians Indigenous Members of the House of Commons of Canada Inuit from Nunavut Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit male actors Inuit politicians Iqaluit city councillors Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Male actors from Nunavut Male actors from the Northwest Territories Members of the House of Commons of Canada from the Northwest Territories New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons People from Rankin Inlet 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut