1. Eva Aariak was chosen as the second premier of Nunavut, under the territory's consensus government system, on November 14,2008.
11 Facts About Eva Aariak
1. 2.
In January 2021, Eva Aariak became the sixth commissioner of Nunavut.
3.
Eva Aariak was later reappointed as acting commissioner in December 2007 after the resignation of then Languages Commissioner, Johnny Kusugak.
4.
Eva Aariak served as coordinator of the Baffin Divisional Education Council's Inuktitut language book publishing program, as president of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce and as chair of the Nunavut Film Development Corporation.
5.
Eva Aariak was the only woman elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2008 election.
6.
Eva Aariak subsequently expressed her disappointment with that fact, suggesting that improved daycare services in Nunavut might be needed to help women participate more actively in the political process and that the territory should revisit the failed proposal to have a smaller number of electoral districts, each of which would choose one man and one woman as MLAs.
7.
At the Nunavut Leadership Forum on November 14,2008, Eva Aariak was chosen as the new premier over incumbent Paul Okalik and MLA Tagak Curley.
8.
Eva Aariak was the sixth woman, after Rita Johnston, Nellie Cournoyea, Christy Clark, Catherine Callbeck and Pat Duncan, to hold a premiership in Canada, and the sixth female First Minister in the country, including former Prime Minister Kim Campbell.
9.
On September 5,2013, Eva Aariak announced that while she would seek re-election as an MLA for the new electoral district of Iqaluit-Tasiluk in the 2013 election, she was not interested in the second term as premier when the new Legislative Assembly took office.
10.
On October 28,2013, Eva Aariak was not re-elected as an MLA, losing by 43 votes to George Hickes.
11.
Eva Aariak was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada on November 19,2018, for her dedication to promoting Inuit culture and languages, as well as her political impacts regarding poverty reduction and the promotion of equity and gender equality.