11 Facts About Peter Ittinuar

Peter Freuchen K Ittinuar is a Canadian politician.

Peter Ittinuar was the first Inuk in Canada to be elected as an MP, and represented the electoral district of Nunatsiaq in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1984.

Ittinuar, the grandson of Danish explorer, Peter Freuchen, was born in Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories.

Peter Ittinuar spent part of his youth and adolescence being educated in Ottawa, Ontario, with two childhood friends, Zebedee Nungak and Eric Tagoona.

In 1984 Peter Ittinuar was charged with breach of trust, theft and forgery for allegedly using his parliamentary budget to purchase a boat motor.

Peter Ittinuar ran for re-election in the 1984 federal election, but was defeated by the Progressive Conservative candidate Thomas Suluk.

Peter Ittinuar was later found not guilty on the 1984 breach of trust, theft and forgery charges.

However, Peter Ittinuar had earlier, in 1979, been convicted of possession of a small amount of cocaine.

In 1993, Peter Ittinuar again sought the NDP nomination in Nunatsiaq, but was unable to do so, due to then NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin refusing to endorse his candidacy.

In 2008, while living in southern Ontario, Peter Ittinuar ran unsuccessfully for the Green Party in the Nunavut riding in the federal election.

Peter Ittinuar had previously sought and lost the Green Party nomination in the southern Ontario riding of Brant.