“I always say we have to make a bold move,” he said. “In the first place, who voted to create Nunavut? It was the Inuit, nobody else. The Nunavut government is very much part of the Nunavut land claims. Our vision was, at that time, to have a Nunavut government that speaks Inuktitut, a Nunavut government that respects and enhances Inuit culture.” -Quassa

Chris Pudlat Sr. 20 June at 23:29 So why exactly was Quassa removed again? Sorry maybe I missed something

Jonathan Craig 16 MLA’s lost faith in his ability to lead the government, so they voted to remove him as premier. I believe 2 others abstained, which I believe is a disservice to those whom elected them to represent them considering the importance of the vote. 3 voted to keep Quassa as Premier, Quassa was one of the three.

Heather Campbell One of the abstentions was because that MLA shares Igloolik as part of his riding, and so will have to work with Quassa as a regular member.

Mosha Nowdluk Nookiguak Heard from some people that he wanted to go to a trade show in ottawa with the governments money, they (the government) said yes. 2 days later the government changed their minds.

Monica Ann Connolly Mr. Quassa was removed by a well-organized conspiracy taking advantage of a loophole in Nunavut law.

Other than in the NWT and NU, it is almost impossible to remove a head of government in Canada, except in a party minority government situation (when the party forming the government has less than half the seats in a legislature and the other parties can combine to pass a non-confidence motion, almost always leading to new elections). In the USA, the only way to oust the president is by convicting him of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" by a vote of 2/3 of the senate, after a trial in the senate.

There are reasons why removal of a head of government is so difficult: a jurisdiction that cannot maintain a stable government over a usual period of four or so years can neither provide for its own people nor earn the respect of other governments, and removing a leader is thus so important a move, that voters want to make that decision themselves in an election.

In the NWT and NU, since there are no political parties to head, it was decided the leader would be elected by the legislature and could be removed by the legislature, but until last week no one in either territory ever tried to remove a leader without open debate. NU legislators never tried to remove a leader at all before ordinary elections. NWT assemblies held long debates which usually ended in compromises over the troubling issues and a defeat of the non-confidence motion. Only one NWT premier was removed, for serious conflict of interest.

Until this year, NU premiers and cabinet members have been subject to peer evaluation halfway through their terms. In February of 2018, John Main, the member for Arviat North-Whale Cove, pointed out at a legislative retreat in Pond Inlet that members were not obliged to hold a mid-term review. It was decided not to do so in this Assembly, but to evaluate government performance constantly. This decision was not secret, but neither was it widely reported in the media.

There had been some members unhappy with the division of power from the outset, and there were disagreements over policies and practice as time went on. There was nothing, in my own opinion, that came close to the sort of scandal that would lead to a non-confidence motion or resignation in the rest of Canada.

On Monday, June 11, several MLAs each asked a different cabinet minister the same question, specifying a yes or no answer: was the minister directed to attend the Northern Lights conference in Ottawa? Most ministers replied yes, but two refused to accept the wording - one said they had been "encouraged " to go, and another said they had "agreed" to go.This was the first indication given to Mr. Quassa and the public that some organized action was underway.

On Tuesday, June 12, Mr. Main gave the required two days notice that he would be bringing a motion to remove Mr. Quassa from the leadership and from Cabinet on Thursday, June 14. He did not take ownership of the motion, saying he was making it as chair of the caucus of Regular (non-Cabinet) MLAs. Neither did he give any reason for the motion, saying it would all come out in the debate.

It did not.

Mr. Main spoke to the motion, giving vague, non-specific reasons. Mr. Quassa replied with a discussion of consensus decision-making that sounded as if he expected a long session of questions and answers. Instead, MLAs more or less parroted each other, giving vague complaints, saying it was not personal, complimenting Mr. Quassa on some of his past achievements - there was nothing to which he could reply. Someone mentioned "misleading answers" in the legislature, but when David Akeeagok, MLA for Quttiktuq, asked for specifics, he got no answer.

Make no mistake, this was no debate or discussion, persuading members how to vote. It was a well-organized palace coup. Afterwards, three members sought Mr. Quassa's previous position, two of whom had sought the job last November: the person chosen to fill the vacant cabinet seat had expressed great disappointment when he failed to win that vote in November. Mr. Main's position did not change. 6

Steve Fortin Very well explained, thank you.

Robert Tookoome He made sure Inuit language was going to be used and put Inuit in top level positions! In short he gave too much hope for us and certain portion of gn officials didn’t like it 6

Robert Tookoome Plus he was too real!! 1

Monica Ann Connolly When I ran Nunatsiaq News, I knew how important the language was, and worked hard to keep it as bilingual as possible (given that GNWT and CBC could steal my staff with housing and better salaries!). I was delighted with Paul's move to increase Inuktitut usage! 2

Autobhan Derrick Poulet Yet he couldn't get an Education Act passed that would take Nunavut off of the Alberta curriculum and made Inuktitut the language of instruction to, you know, have a future work force fluent in Inuktitut...

Monica Ann Connolly I don't blame him for that - it can be very difficult to convince Education administrators to change except to the latest American fad. I know; I taught high school for about 25 years. 1

Bill Barnie Monica Ann Connolly Yes and my cartoons were always published in both languages. 1

Chris Pudlat Sr. They said they lost faith or confidence in him, that’s all I’ve heard so far. Why? Give us Nunavummiut the reason why. I agree with Tagak, let all Nunavummiut vote for the next Premier so this BS won’t happen again 1

Autobhan Derrick Poulet Track record. Monica Ann Connolly They voted him in on first ballot in November.

T. Bert Rose Only the Shadow knows 1

Robert Tookoome All I know is 15% got their wish

Jonathan Craig 16 MLA’s voted to remove him....that is way more than 15%. 76% of the MLA’s voted to remove him, so not sure where your 15% is coming from.

Abraham Tarralik It was another witch hunt