Peter Taptuna is a
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician, who was elected as the
Member of the Legislative AssemblyA Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
for the
electoral districtAn electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of
KugluktukKugluktuk is the most western territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada.The riding consists of the community of Kugluktuk in the Kitikmeot....
in the
Legislative Assembly of NunavutThe Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada, is located in Iqaluit, and is the territory's parliament.The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, on 7 October 2002, during her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada...
in the
2008 territorial electionThe Third Nunavut General Election took place on October 27, 2008 to return members to the 3rd Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. The election was contested across 15 of Nunavut's 19 electoral districts under the first past the post system of voting...
. In the 2008 election, Taptuna received 264 votes, or 59.7%, ahead of the only other candidate, Donald Havioyak, who received 178 votes (40.3%).
Before politics
Peter Taptuna was born in 1955 or 1956 in
Cambridge BayCambridge Bay, named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, is a hamlet located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada...
. Attending a residential school in
InuvikInuvik is a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada and is the administrative centre for the Inuvik Region.The population as of the 2006 Census was 3,484, but the two previous census counts show wide fluctuations due to economic conditions: 2,894 in 2001 and 3,296 in 1996...
, Taptuna went on to become a member of the first and only
InuitThe Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
oil and gas drilling crew on the
Beaufort SeaThe Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort...
.
After the western
ArcticThe Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
oil and gas sector shut down, Taptuna began working on the Lupin Gold Mine southeast of
KugluktukKugluktuk is a hamlet located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island...
. There, he completed an apprenticeship, earning journeyman and Red Seal certification. After his return to Kugluktuk, Taptuna received a diploma in Management Studies from
Nunavut Arctic CollegeNunavut Arctic College is a Crown corporation that is funded by the Government of Nunavut and has several campuses and centres spread out throughout Nunavut, Canada.-History:...
.
Political career
In 1999, Taptuna began service as a hamlet councillor and became the deputy mayor of the
Hamlet of KugluktukKugluktuk is a hamlet located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island...
. From 2000, he was the director and chair of the Kitikmeot Corporation, and the director of the Nunavut Development Corporation. On October 27, 2008, the day of the
2008 territorial electionThe Third Nunavut General Election took place on October 27, 2008 to return members to the 3rd Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. The election was contested across 15 of Nunavut's 19 electoral districts under the first past the post system of voting...
, Taptuna was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of NunavutThe Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada, is located in Iqaluit, and is the territory's parliament.The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, on 7 October 2002, during her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada...
, representing the
KugluktukKugluktuk is the most western territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada.The riding consists of the community of Kugluktuk in the Kitikmeot....
riding, the most western riding in
NunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
. He currently holds many positions within the government of Nunavut, including Deputy Premier, Minister Responsible for the Nunavut Development Corporation, Minister Responsible for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation, Minister Responsible for Mines, and from November 19, 2008, the Minister of Economic Development & Transportation.
Personal life
Taptuna has been married to his wife Joanne for over thirty years. They have five children and nine grandchildren.