Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson is taking advantage of the travel bubble to have a five-day holiday in Iqaluit. During his working holiday, he plans to visit some friends, do some fishing and learn about Nunavut’s legislative policies.
“I always knew I would get here eventually as part of this job,” said the MLA.
Johnson was elected as a MLA to the 19th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in 2019.
Accompanied by his constituency assistant Cat McGurk, he arrived in Iqaluit on Aug. 5. Now that he's had this first visit to Nunavut, Johnson has been to every province and territory in Canada.
Within two days of arriving in the capital, he has already tasted walrus, polar bear, caribou and maqtaq.
“I really like the availability of wild meat,” he said, adding, “We don’t really have that in Yellowknife.”
He has also taken the opportunity to learn about Nunavut’s history by visiting the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.
Johnson said he is now looking forward to meeting some of the “young and exciting politicians doing great work in Nunavut.”
He has plans to meet Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone at the Legislative Building later today for a guided tour.
He hopes to see more people take advantage of the travel bubble.
On June 15, Nunavut and Northwest Territories formed a travel bubble that allows individuals to enter each territory without self-isolating.
The MLA will be staying in Iqaluit until Aug. 9 before heading back to Yellowknife.
He plans on taking a cooler full of country food home.
“I'm gonna bring a bunch of maqtaq back for friends ... give it away as a gift,” said Johnson.