Nunavut Tour 2018

Nunavut Tour 2018

Senator Dennis Patterson

Ann Meekitjuk Hanson and Heather Daley both received specially minted Canada 150 medals from Nunavut Senator Dennis
Patterson Feb. 11.

Senator Dennis Patterson

As fresh uncertainty looms over the feasibility of Ottawa’s July 1 deadline for the legalization of cannabis in Canada, Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson doubled-down at a meeting in Iqaluit on Sunday, stressing that Canada’s Senate will not give Bill C-45 a rubber-stamp.

“I don’t think we’re going to be rushing this bill,” Patterson said at the latest leg of his cross-Nunavut consultation tour, on Sunday, Feb. 11 at the Roman Catholic Parish Hall in Iqaluit.

Senator Dennis Patterson

Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott began a two-day emergency meeting on child welfare in Ottawa Thursday by saying she was not there to assign blame.

As well, Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson appeared on N2N.

He talked about a new Senate committee on the Arctic that will start when Parliament resumes next week.

Also, he will soon be visiting all 25 communities in Nunavut, to get feedback on everything from food security to oil and gas to development and concerns over the upcoming legalization of marijuana.

Patterson said this is being done ahead of Ottawa’s work on a new Arctic policy.

“It’s really important that residents of the Arctic have input into the development of this arctic policy by our federal government,” he said.

Senator Dennis Patterson

Dennis Patterson says he will visit all 25 Nunavut communities this year

Senator Dennis Patterson said he wants to make sure the concerns of the Nunavummiut are heard in Ottawa this year.

Currently, Nunavut is the only northern jurisdiction with representation in Canada’s Senate, because three northern senators resigned in the past year.

Senator Dennis Patterson

Dennis Patterson will visit all 25 communities, starting in south Baffin in February

If you live in Nunavut and have ideas about federal policies affecting the territory, you’ll have a chance to convey those opinions to your federal senator in the coming weeks.

Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson is touring all 25 of the territory’s communities, starting in February.