Hunter Tootoo

Tootoo was born in Rankin Inlet, the son of Batiste Tootoo, an Inuk, and Sally Luttmer (née Wolfe), originally from Montreal and descended from Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. He is a businessman in northern Canada, and was the co-founder of the Iqaluit branch of Arctic Insurance Brokers Ltd. Tootoo is a former member of the Northwest Territories Co-op Business Development Board, the Sport North Board of Directors, and Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. Tootoo has long been involved in government administration. He served as regional coordinator for the town of Arviat in 1993. He became the administration officer for the NWT Department of Recreation and Tourism in 1995, and was named as the corporate control officer of the NWT Department of Finance later in the same year. In 1997, he became assistant director of the NWT Housing Corporation in Iqaluit. Tootoo was a member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada in this period. ==Political career==

He began his political career as a member of the Hamlet Council of Rankin Inlet. He stepped down as the chair of the Nunavut Planning Commission shortly afterwards. On October 19, 2015, Tootoo won the election, defeating Conservative incumbent and cabinet minister Leona Aglukkaq. Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard On November 4, 2015, Tootoo was appointed as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in the 29th Canadian Ministry; He became the first Fisheries Minister to be from Northern Canada. He resigned from the cabinet on May 31, 2016, citing issues with addiction. Tootoo also resigned from the Liberal caucus and his cabinet role was filled by Dominic LeBlanc. As independent MP By July 25, 2016, Tootoo completed his alcohol addiction treatment program and resumed his duties as an MP starting with an invitation to a constituency open house on the 28th. In the same month, after a report by The Globe and Mail, Tootoo admitted that he had had a "consensual but inappropriate" relationship with one of his female staffers which led to his resignation, which had been kept quiet in respect for the privacy of the other parties. In September 2016, Robert Fife of The Globe and Mail reported that after Tootoo broke off his relationship with his staffer in favour of a relationship with her mother, the staffer damaged his Parliamentary office, which prompted Tootoo to tender his resignation to Prime Minister Trudeau. ==Post-political career==

In November 2020, Tootoo became the president of the Nunavut Curling Association. His term started amid logistical difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Nunavut that closed the rinks in Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay during qualifications for the Brier and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Tootoo was the second for the Nunavut curling team at the 2021 and the 2024 Canadian Curling Club Championships. At 61, he was one of the oldest competitors at the latter competition. ==Personal life==

Tootoo is the cousin of hockey player Jordin Tootoo and the nephew of Manitoba NDP MLA George Hickes. Tootoo's mother is Jewish from Montreal. Tootoo is also an avid curler. He has played for the Nunavut team at four Canadian Curling Club Championships (2013, 2019, 2021, 2024). In 2021, Tootoo was a member of the Wade Kingdon team at the Nunavut Brier Playdowns. They lost in a best-of-five series, three games to two. ==Electoral record==

Federal Territorial ==References==