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Nunavut Election 2017 – Towtongie promises to boost Chesterfield Inlet

Cathy Towtongie said she won't allow her name to stand for premier or a cabinet seat until she meets with constituents in Chesterfield Inlet and Rankin Inlet first.

The former Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president garnered 171 votes while Cedric Autut earned 147, incumbent Tom Sammurtok got 93 and Douglas Aggark finished with 58 in Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet.
"I want to say Chesterfield will no longer be left out," Towtongie said. "Chesterfield is the oldest community in Nunavut with 100-year-old churches, and a lot of infrastructure needs are required there."
Mental health and elders' facilities are other critical issues, Towtongie said. Getting tele-health and its fibre-optic lines in place across the territory is another pressing matter, as is the high cost of travel, balancing mining with the environment and ensuring job security for Nunavummiut – Inuit and non-Inuit alike – she added.
In what amounted to a stiff political challenge from Autut, Towtongie said she felt her connection with the elders and with the youth, mainly through her devotion to Inuit sports, helped her prevail.
Towtongie thanked God and named many relatives who backed her in the campaign and throughout her life.
"I have very solid supporters," she said.