Jack Anawak

Jack Iyerak Anawak ᔭᒃ ᐃᐊᕋᒃ ᐊᓇᕙᒃ
Member of Parliament for Nunatsiaq
In office 1988–1997
Preceded by	Thomas Suluk
Succeeded by	Nancy Karetak-Lindell
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut
In office 1999–2004
Preceded by	first member
Succeeded by	Tagak Curley
Constituency	Rankin Inlet North
Personal details
Born	(1950-09-26) September 26, 1950 Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories
Political party	Liberal (MP, 1988-97) Non Partisan (MLA, 1999-04) New Democrat (Nominee, 2015)

Jack Iyerak Anawak (born September 26, 1950) is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Nunatsiaq in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. He sat in the house as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. 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's candidate for the riding of Nunavut 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.

Territorial politics

In 1999 he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, but did not run for re-election in 2004.

Anawak attempted to run for a seat in the 2008 Nunavut general election. He filed nomination papers to run in the electoral district of Akulliq but was denied as a candidate by Elections Nunavut Chief Electoral Officer Sandy Kusugak 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 Nunavut, in the 2015 election. This time, he ran as the candidate of the New Democratic Party. 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" [nanook, polar bear] in honour of Canada's Inuit people and their northern culture; however, this culturally meaningful proposal went largely unnoticed beside the simple, mass-appeal "Twonie/Toonie".

Electoral history

Canadian federal election, 2015: Nunavut
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Hunter Tootoo	5,619	47.11%	+18.49	–
	New Democratic	Jack Iyerak Anawak	3,171	26.58%	+7.14	–
	Conservative	Leona Aglukkaq	2,956	24.78%	-25.07	–
	Green	Spencer Rocchi	182	1.53%	-0.55	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			11,928	100.0		$202,334.18
Total rejected ballots			95	–	–
Turnout			12,203	62.54%	–
Eligible voters			19,223
Source: Elections Canada

Canadian federal election, 1993: Nunatsiaq
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Jack Iyerak Anawak	6,685	69.79	+29.85
	Progressive Conservative	Leena Evic-Twerdin	1,970	20.57	−2.37
	New Democratic	Mike Illnik	924	9.65	−23.51
Total valid votes			9,579	100.0
	Liberal hold		Swing		+16.11

Canadian federal election, 1988: Nunatsiaq
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Jack Iyerak Anawak	3,356	39.94	+11.04
	New Democratic	Peter Kusugak	2,786	33.15	+4.50
	Progressive Conservative	Sedluk Bryan Pearson	1,928	22.94	−28.52
	Independent	Richard Inukpak Lee	333	3.96	–
Total valid votes			8,403	100.0
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+3.27

External links

• Jack Anawak – Parliament of Canada biography
• Jack Iyerak Anawak on Two-Dollar Coin - Hansard April 26th, 1996
• Inuktitut Living Dictionary