Candidates:

Harry Ambrose M. Aknavigak
David Kaosoni
Harry Maksagak
Keith Peterson

Current MLA:

Hon. Kelvin Ng, Minister of Finance

Constituency Profile: Stretching from the north tip of Victoria Island to the N.W.T. border, the Cambridge Bay electoral Constituency is the second westernmost in Nunavut. The community of Cambridge Bay (pop. 1,309), on the coast of southeastern Victoria Island, is the Constituency's population centre, and is the business, government and transport hub of the Kitikmeot region. About three-quarters of the hamlet's residents are Inuit, many of whom speak Inuinnaqtun - a language often considered distinct from Inuktitut. Also in this Constituency are the tiny outpost camps of Bathurst Inlet and Umingmaktok, both on the mainland. They lack government facilities, and have been losing population. Kitikmeot political leaders have been pushing to build a road and port to link Bathurst Inlet with the mines near the N.W.T.-Nunavut border. The plan is environmentally controversial.

Political History: With Nunavut's finance minister, Kelvin Ng, dropping out of politics to devote more time to his family, this Constituency is up for grabs. Ng was the assembly's veteran, having spent a decade in territorial politics, and with ministerial experience in both the N.W.T. and Nunavut. A longtime Cambridge Bay councillor and mayor, he gained a seat in the N.W.T. assembly in a by-election in 1993 after incumbent Ernest Bernhardt resigned. Bernhardt then challenged Ng in the 1995 regular election, but was beaten by a dramatic margin. Ng's 1999 win over fellow Cambridge Bay residents Mike O'Gorman and Wilfred Wilcox was nearly as decisive. In that election, voter turnout was the highest in the territory, with the number of ballots exceeding the number of enumerated voters.

1999
Kelvin Ng	332 (49.40%)
Mike O'Gorman	164 (24.40%)
Wilfred Wilcox	108 (16.07%)
Voter turnout	115.07%** (highest in Nunavut)

1995*
Kelvin Ng	792 (71.10%)
Ernest Bernhardt	322 (28.90%)
Voter turnout	85.02%

1991*
Ernest Bernhardt	367 (33.03%)
Kelvin Ng	316 (28.44%)
Joe Ohokannoak	274 (24.66%)
Voter turnout	95.15% (highest in Nunavut)

*Prior to 1999, Cambridge Bay was part of the N.W.T.'s Kitikmeot electoral Constituency, which included the community of Kugluktuk. **Because of problems in enumeration, voter turnouts occasionally are greater than the voter's list.