Paul Okalik

During the 2015 Canadian federal election, Okalik protested a 2014 incident in which Aglukkaq read a newspaper during Question Period while opposition parties asked about exorbitant food prices in the North by reading a newspaper whenever Aglukkaq spoke at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation election forum in Iqaluit.

Okalik returned to the legislature at the 2013 Nunavut general election as the member for Iqaluit-Sinaa, which includes much of his old riding. Soon afterward, he returned to cabinet as Justice Minister. However, in 2016, Okalik resigned from cabinet because of his opposition to a proposed liquor store in Iqaluit and the lack of addictions support. Okalik told the Assembly that as a recovering alcoholic who had his last drink in 1991, he could not support a liquor store in the territorial capital without improved facilities for recovering alcoholics.

He announced on April 6, 2011 that he would resign from the Legislative Assembly in order to run for the Liberal Party of Canada in the federal riding of Nunavut in the 2011 Canadian federal election. He finished second in the election behind Conservative incumbent Leona Aglukkaq.

On November 4, 2010, he was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Okalik represented the electoral district of Iqaluit West in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut until April 6, 2011 when he announced he would be resigning in order to run for the Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of Nunavut in the 2011 Canadian federal election. He returned to the Legislative Assembly in 2013 until being defeated in the 2017 general election.

On November 4, 2010, Okalik was elected the Speaker of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, replacing James Arreak who had resigned to become a cabinet minister.

In November 2009, a report by the Integrity Commissioner declared that Okalik violated the territory's Integrity Act by soliciting campaign donations from deputy ministers, whom premiers appoint, and that Okalik should apologize.

In the 2008 Nunavut General Election he won his third election and ran for a third term as Premier. On November 14, 2008, Okalik was defeated by Eva Aariak for the premiership. Okalik declined a nomination to cabinet and subsequently sat as a regular member in the Nunavut Assembly.

On November 24, 2008, Okalik was the sole recipient at the 16th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, now the Indspire Awards, in the category of Politics.

During the last week of June 2007, Okalik reportedly made derogatory comments to Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik about Lynda Gunn, an executive from the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, allegedly calling her a "fucking bitch". Although Okalik apologized, both publicly and in private, the apology was refused. On September 17, 2007, MLAs voted to censure Okalik. Okalik himself abstained from voting, but asked his fellow MLAs to censure him as a formal recognition of his mistake. Sheutiapik subsequently challenged Okalik for the Iqaluit West seat in the 2008 election. Okalik was re-elected.

On June 18, 2005, Carleton University conferred on Okalik an honorary doctorate in law.

He stood for reelection in the 2004 general election, and was returned to the Legislative Assembly. On March 5, 2004, the Legislative Assembly again selected him premier over challenger Tagak Curley. By 2007, Okalik was the longest-serving sitting premier in Canada.

At the first Nunavut election held February 15, 1999, Okalik was elected to represent Iqaluit West in the first Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, defeating Ben Ell and Matthew Spence, with 51% of ballots cast. The First Nunavut Assembly met prior to the official creation of the territory in order to elect the territory's first premier and ministers. There are no political parties in Nunavut. Instead, all members of the Assembly are elected as independents, with the Assembly then recommending a ministry from among its elected members via a consensus model. The Commissioner of Nunavut then formally appoints them to office.

Former federal MP Jack Anawak had been widely touted as the future Premier. However, Anawak was seen as Ottawa's choice, while Okalik was a dark horse and perceived as his own man. On March 5, 1999 after an extensive Leadership Forum question and answer period in the Assembly, Okalik was elected the first Premier of Nunavut. His mandate as premier became effective on April 1, 1999, the day Nunavut territory came into existence.

The first two terms (1999–04, 2004–08) of the Nunavut Government were defining for the Nunavut territory. The creation of a new government in a territory where no prior government structures existed was an accomplishment achieved by the hard work, idealism and commitment of many individuals, including Ministers, MLAs, public servants, Inuit organizations and municipal leaders – but the period is likely to be viewed as the Okalik legacy.

Immediately in 1999 the new Nunavut government recommenced the construction of public housing, which the NWT had abandoned, taking the first steps to address the massive overcrowding and severe housing deficit facing all Nunavut communities, as well as developing innovations in assisting home ownership and first time purchasers. The monies spent on housing increased steadily over this period and persistent efforts eventually secured $300M in federal dollars for a huge construction program, the "Nunavut Housing Trust".

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement requires that governments work towards a public service representative of the public it serves. In the first ten years of Nunavut, Inuit employment rates far exceeded those in the former Northwest Territories and showed stead improvement since 1999; however, these rates were still highest in the lowest education and pay categories, skilled positions remained unfilled in many communities, and the classic issues around minority employment efforts became part of the Nunavut public agenda.

Nunavut managed to create its first political crisis on the issue of time zones in 1999, with Okalik and most of Cabinet supporting a unified time zone across the three current time zones and Nunavut regions. Most municipalities – despite originally supporting time zone unification at their annual meetings – responded to the government initiative with overt resistance, leading to a stand-off where Hamlets ran clocks at their preferred time and schools and airports frequently operated on another. Ultimately Okalik and the government backed down and the historic three time zones, Eastern Time Zone for the Qikiqtaaluk, Central Time Zone for the Kivalliq and Mountain Time Zone for the Kitikmeot have continued in effect.

The issue of "decentralization" or the location of territorial- and headquarters-level government functions in one or more of the 10 "decentralized" Nunavut communities was an integral part of the planning of Nunavut from the time of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, and the Office of the Interim Commissioner. Practical adjustments were made to the locations recommended by the Office of the Interim Commissioner for many functions in 1999 and 2000, but many other positions were assigned to communities on a community development rather than a functional basis. There remain serious contentions around the effectiveness of specific functions and the over-all value of the decentralization initiative, but Okalik remained committed to the principle, and to seeing jobs delivered to communities outside the major centres.

In 1998 he returned to Iqaluit to article at Crawford Law Office, working briefly in Yellowknife and with the Maliganik Tukisiniakvik legal aid clinic. In 1999 he was called to the Northwest Territories Bar, becoming the first Inuk lawyer in NWT/Nunavut history. His dream was to help his people in their dealings with the Canadian justice system.

Paul Okalik MLA (Inuktitut: ᐹᓪ ᐅᑲᓕᖅ , IPA: [paːl ukaliq] ; born May 26, 1964) is a Canadian politician. He is the first Inuk to have been called to the Nunavut Bar and the first Premier of Nunavut.

Okalik was born on May 26, 1964, in Pangnirtung, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), the youngest of ten children born to Auyaluk and Annie Okalik. He was sent to residential school in Frobisher Bay, now Iqaluit, at 15, returning to Pangnirtung after one year. He began a series of temporary jobs and pursuits including time as an apprentice underground at the Nanisivik Mine in northern Baffin Island. In the early 1980s, he became interested in the political development of Inuit communities and began to work for the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, the predecessor of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, as a deputy negotiator on the Inuit land claim, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. That claim, the largest in Canadian history, was signed in 1993 after decades of negotiations between Canada and the Inuit of Nunavut and would lead to the creation of Nunavut that he was to lead as premier through its first decade.