About
The youngest of ten siblings, Paul Okalik was born to Annie and Auyaluk Okalik. First educated at a local school inPangnirtung,Northwest Territories(nowNunavut), Okalik was later sent to theresidential schoolinIqaluit. Okalik’s teen years were troubled; he was expelled from high school in grade 10 for alcohol use, suffered the loss of an older brother tosuicidewhen he was 14 years old, and served a three-month jail sentence for breaking and entering at the age of 17. (See alsoSuicide among Indigenous Peoples in Canada).After his release, Okalik returned to education, taking a welding course atFort Smithin the Northwest Territories and earning his high school equivalency at the same time. Returning to education, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Canadian studies fromCarleton Universityin 1994. His son, Jordan, was born shortly after. Okalik also earned a law degree from theUniversity of Ottawain 1997. He worked at Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik, a legal aid office in Iqaluit, from 1997 to 1999, when he was called to the bar. He was Nunavut’s first Inuk lawyer. Okalik was easily elected to a second term in 2004, but in 2008, Okalik achieved a narrow victory over Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik for his seat in Iqaluit West. In the election for premier that followed, Okalik’s campaign focused on the following: the territory’s improved economic situation and balanced budget, its reduced unemployment rate (13 per cent in 2004 to under 9 per cent in 2007), theEducation Actthat ensures students will be taught inInuktitutand theLanguage Actguaranteeing that the people of Nunavut (Nunavummiut) will receive essential services in their mother tongue. However, he had previously been taken to task for derogatory comments made to Sheutiapik at a public function, and several MLAs subsequently called for his resignation. On 14 November 2008, the MLA for Iqaluit East,Eva Aariak, was elected Nunavut’s new premier and the second in the territory’s history. From 2008 to 2011, Okalik continued to serve as a Nunavut MLA.