The candidates: Iqaluit-Manirajak

This district is essentially Iqaluit (pop. 8,284,) with a mix of old and new, rich and poor, Inuit and non-Inuit.

Government infrastructure is everywhere, and all of industrial Iqaluit is here, as well as the airport and the beach where the annual sealift takes place. Many voters here live in the residential neighbourhood called Lower Base. The largest and growing group of voters occupy the heights of the new Plateau subdivision.

Locally, there hasbeen a lot of discontent with the state of the beach area and the social impact of the beer and wine store.

In this constituency, Joanasie Akumalik is running against the incumbent Adam Arreak Lightstone.

CBC has reached out to all candidates with a list of questions in Inuktut and English, as well as consulted candidates' own online campaign messages. The available information has been edited for length and clarity.

Joanasie Akumalik

Joanasie Akulamlik was born and raised in Arctic Bay.

He holds a welding certificate from Red River College in Winnipeg and has completed some university courses.

Currently, he is a project manager at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., finding graves of Inuit who never returned home from the tuberculosis sanitoriums in southern Canada.

Akumalik, who speaks and writes Inuktitut, said he has a long history of volunteerism.

He is running because "I feel that there should be better representation/speak for the people, and hopefully make better living choices for the residents, not just for the constituency but Nunavut as a whole. I want to present community issues and Nunavut-wide issues at the legislature."

The biggest issues in his constituency he said include public safety, mental health, infrastructure upgrades and affordable housing.

Territorially, he would add action on mental health, seek review of territorial acts that need to be passed and work towarda balanced budget and a COVID-19-free territory.

Adam Arreak Lightstone

The incumbent Adam Arreak Lightstone, originally from Rankin Inlet, spent his youth between Iqaluit and Kingston, Ont., until he moved to Iqaluit permanently as a teenager.

After graduating from Inuksuk High school, he attended Nunavut Sivuniksavut. He holds an advanced accounting diploma from St. Lawrence College, and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Laurentian University.

A former Government of Nunavut employee, Lightstone said he first ran to become an MLA in 2017 because there were many issues in Nunavut that needed to be addressed.

The government still needs to work harder to better meet the needs of its people, he said, in part to prevent alcohol abuse, violence and threats to public safety.

Other issues he sees relate to child abuse and domestic violence, education and school food programs and youth, generally.

He said he would address Nunavut's housing crisis by using alternative construction methods and creating more supports for home ownership.

Lightstone said he would like to play a role in guiding Nunavut at the decision table as a member of cabinet, "but there are still a lot of issues I would like to address and I am not sure if now is the right time. I am confident in saying I have no aspirations to be the premier."