25-Year Old Inuit Woman to Represent Nunavut in Canadian Parliament

Published at: Oct 23 2019 - 12:05 / Updated at: Oct 23 2019 - 12:05

25-year old Mumilaaq Qaqqaq from Baker Lake will represent Nunavut in the Canadian parliament following Monday’s election, according to Nunatsiaq News.

Qaqqaq represents the New Democratic Party (NDP) and received 41.2 percent of the votes in her district. She will be the NDP’s first Member of Parliament to represent Nunavut since 1980.

Although Qaqqaq has secured Nunavut for the NDP, she will face a minority Liberal government and a strong Conservative opposition when she takes her seat in the House of Commons.

Nunavut’s former MP, Hunter Tootoo, held a cabinet position with the Liberals after he was elected in 2015. Before that, Conservative Leona Aglukkaq was a minister under then prime minister Stephen Harper.