Preceded by John Matthews Succeeded by Madeleine Redfern | Occupation entrepreneur Name Elisapee Sheutiapik | |
Elisapee Sheutiapik served as mayor of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. She won the mayoral election in 2003, defeating the incumbent mayor John Matthews by 40 votes, and was acclaimed to a second term in 2006. She is also a member in a scholarship selection committee, and owns a coffee shop in Iqaluit.
On 10 September 2008, CBC North reported that Sheutiapik would be taking a leave of absence to run in the upcoming Nunavut election. She ran in Iqaluit West, which had the highest voter turnout at 90.2 per cent, but was defeated by incumbent MLA Paul Okalik by 44 votes. She subsequently returned to the mayor's chair.
On 19 October 2009, Sheutiapik won a third term as mayor of Iqaluit. Her opponent was former city councillor Jim Little, who took 42.3% of the vote as opposed to 57.7% for Sheutiapik. On November 9, 2010, she announced her resignation as mayor effective December 13. She was succeeded by Madeleine Redfern.
Activism
Sheutiapik, whose sister Mary Ann was murdered by an abusive relative in 1997, has collaborated with Iqaluit-based rock singer Lucie Idlout on a national project to have cities across Canada name a city street "Angel" as a memorial to Canadian victims of domestic violence. As of November 2008, Angel Streets have been named in Iqaluit and Fredericton.