First Inuk elected to House of Commons

Peter Ittinuar becomes the first Inuk elected as a Member of Parliament.

Ittinuar was elected under the NDP banner to represent the riding of Nunatsiaq, however on November 26, 1982, he crossed the floor and joined the Liberal Party of Canada after (then) Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern Development John Munro announced his government’s support in principle for the creation of Nunavut.

Ittinuar held his seat from 1979-1984

Born in Chesterfield Inlet on January 19, 1950 Ittinuar was educated in Ottawa as part of a federal experiment in cultural assimilation which formed the basis of the 2009 documentary “The Experimental Eskimos” [Film trailer on YouTube]