Candidates:

Emily Beardsall
Willy Nakoolak
Patterk Netser
Bernard Putulik Sr.

Current MLA:

Patterk Netser

Constituency Profile: The Nanulik electoral Constituency covers Southampton Island and the Kivalliq coast north of Rankin Inlet. On the mainland is Chesterfield Inlet (pop. 345), Nunavut's oldest permanent community. Catholic missionaries founded Chesterfield in 1911, and for the next five decades it was a medical and educational centre, home to the only hospital and school in the eastern Arctic. Sadly, the latter institution - the Joseph Bernier residential school - was infamous for physical and sexual abuse, and left scars across the North. In the 1960s, Chesterfield ceded its hub status to Rankin Inlet, and today it is a low-key, subsistence-based community. Somewhat more populous, if not more bustling, is Coral Harbour (pop. 712). Like Chesterfield, it is a "have not" hamlet - a community not slated to receive territorial jobs under Nunavut's decentralization scheme.

Political History: Just five months ago unemployed mechanic Patterk Netser of Coral Harbour won this seat in a by-election, beating out former Chesterfield Inlet mayor George Tanuyak by seven ballots. The vote was held to replace former education minister James Arvaluk, who was forced to resign after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend. Arvaluk had won the seat by a small margin in 1999, defeating three other Coral Harbour residents and one candidate from Chesterfield Inlet. For Arvaluk, the mid-term ouster was a repeat offence: In 1995, he left the N.W.T. assembly following a conviction for sexual assault.

2003 By-Election
Patterk Netser	165 (40.94%)
George Tanuyak	158 (39.20%)
Francis Mazhero	80 (19.85%)
Voter turnout	72.03%

1999
James Arvaluk	156 (31.08%)
Johnny Ningeongan	125 (24.90%)
Amauyak Netser	98 (18.52%)
Voter turnout	90.61%

1995*
Manitok Thomson	274 (45.51%)
Marion Love	240 (39.87%)
Donat Milortok	88 (14.69%)
Voter turnout	87.01%

1991*
James Arvaluk	185 (34.64%)
Peter Irniq	100 (18.73%)
Andre Tautu	97 (18.16%)
Voter turnout	85.69%

*Prior to 1999, Nanulik was part of the N.W.T.'s Aivilik electoral Constituency, which included the community of Repulse Bay and part of Rankin Inlet.