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Trends in territorial elections are harder to measure accurately. Table 2 summarizes the turnout levels in the 24 communities in Nunavut for the four most recent elections, the NWT election, the Canadian federal election, the Nunavut election and the most recent Canadian federal election. The table demonstrates that turnout is higher for territorial contests than for federal elections. It also shows that there is considerable variation among communities. The standard deviation for community turnout levels is similar for the , , elections and appears to have decreased since the previous NWT election, which produced widely varying levels of turnout.

In general, turnout is higher for territorial elections. In this election the western constituencies had a turnout rate of In Canada, some provinces, such as Prince Edward Island, display consistently higher levels of turnout in sub-state elections while other provinces, such as Ontario or Alberta, have poorer levels of turnout in provincial elections. Regions with higher sub-state electoral turnout tend to be smaller, and tend to have clear divisions among the dominant political parties. Obviously, the role of parties must be discounted in Nunavut at the territorial level but it is relevant for the lower levels of federal turnout.

The hegemony of the Liberal party, credited with declining turnout rates in Canada as a whole, is also likely responsible for lower turnout in federal elections in Nunavut. In addition, the stakes of federal elections, where there is only one MP to select, could appear low to voters. Last, in terms of service provision, the territorial government likely seems more proximate, both physically and psychologically, than the federal government, with whom most voters have likely only ever had contact through its unelected bureaucracy.

There are several reasons to treat these numbers cautiously. When turnout is calculated, the former denominator is used, which would elevate the reported level of turnout. Second, there is a significant gap between the number of registered voters in Nunavut and the number of eligible adults. This also suggests that the denominator is smaller than it should be, resulting in an over-representation of turnout at the territorial level.

The existence of birthright organizations provides additional opportunities for Inuit to vote. Turnout for these organizations is generally lower although it is worth noting that in this case the electorate includes 16 and 17 year olds. We know from existing research that younger members of the electorate are less likely to vote than those in their 40s. This suggests that the inclusion of 16 and 17 year olds in the voting population would produce lower levels of turnout if voting patterns are consistent with those in other parts of Canada.

Turnout for the regional associations tends to be lower still. Table 3 summarizes the various turnout levels for the range of voting opportunities other than territorial and federal elections. In addition to recent turnout information for the birthright organizations, it tracks the decreasing turnout for the various plebiscites associated with the progress of the land claim and the political accord.

Turnout for the land claim and the capital plebiscite has more in common with recent electoral behaviour in the territorial elections than in the federal election. The , gender parity plebiscite, in which voters ultimately rejected the proposal to have one male and one female representative from each constituency, is the obvious exception.

While a comprehensive analysis of the turnout for that plebiscite is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth noting that the Inuit leadership involved in the negotiation of the land claim and political accord was relatively united on the issue of the boundary division and the land claim, but largely silent on the location of the capital.

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This was not the case for the gender parity proposal, which was more divisive than the other issues Dahl ; Gombay The inconsistent message coming from negotiators, and the general unwillingness of the electorate to embrace a fundamental reform of their institutions, as seen in the public consultations of the NIC, could account for the lower turnout in that plebiscite. Turnout for recent public plebiscites, Inuit-specific votes and elections to birthright organizations.

Given what we know of turnout in Nunavut, how can we account for the different trends, and specifically for the general decline in turnout levels? Part of the answer lies in the known predictors of turnout. Those likely to increase turnout include both individual factors, such as age and university education and systemic factors such as a proportional election system and the perception of a meaningful electoral contest. Factors likely to decrease turnout include the frequency elections and a geographically dispersed electorate. If we examine each of these factors from an aggregate level, we learn that as a territory Nunavut possesses several factors that would predict lower levels of turnout.

Nunavut has the youngest electorate in Canada. The median age of Nunavummiut is The median age in Canada, by contrast, is Nunavut also has a small proportion of the electorate with university degrees, 8. Both of these effects are exacerbated among Inuit. The age profile for Inuit suggests that their median age is even younger, at If these two features are predictors of political behaviour, we would expect lower levels of turnout than in the rest of the country.

In terms of systemic effects, we know that none of the federal, territorial, municipal or birthright elections operate according to proportional electoral systems. All employ a majoritarian first-past-the-post method. Furthermore, the electorate is geographically-dispersed.

None of the communities in Nunavut is joined to any other by roads. While two communities, Iqaluit, the capital, and Rankin Inlet contain more than one territorial constituency within their boundaries, many of the 19 constituencies contain communities separated by hundreds of kilometres. Air travel is thus a necessary and expensive feature of electoral campaigning.

These two features are often associated with lower electoral turnout. An additional factor is the perception of a meaningful electoral battle. We can assume in this case that an electoral battle is meaningful if it is close, or if it is fought between diametrically opposing views. At the territorial level this is hampered by a lack of political parties. The absence of political parties would make it hard for individuals who pay only cursory attention to political campaigns to detect, at a glance, whether the views of candidates are similar or remarkably different.

The sheer size of the constituencies inhibits all-candidate debates that might expose these differences. In short, it is not that electoral battles in Nunavut are not tightly-contested or home to radically different visions of political life, but that it is hard to tell whether they are.

At the federal level the pattern of hegemonic support for the Liberal party prevents a meaningful or close electoral battle. This party makes money off elections in Nunavut, raising more than it spends. The amounts raised by both parties, and the gap between fundraising and spending, point to the dominant position of the Liberal party in Nunavut. The Liberals are able to raise far more money in the territory than their rivals. In addition, more so than any jurisdiction in the country, partisan contests in Nunavut retain a distinctly pre flavour where the main contests take place among the Liberals, NDP and Progressive Conservatives.

Federal elections in Nunavut involve fewer small parties and fewer candidates than in the rest of the country. There were no independent candidates. For these, and for the election, the Nunavut contest contained fewer candidates than other ridings in Canada, where on average six candidates contest seats. This is consistent with existing research that suggests urban electoral contests field larger and more diverse lists of candidates. A final predictor of turnout is the frequency of elections.

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A greater number of elections is credited with decreased turnout. This helps to explain turnout levels in Switzerland and the United States, where elections occur more frequently than in other polities. If trips to the polls dampen turnout, then here too do we have reason to expect lower levels of turnout in Nunavut. Since , voters in Nunavut have been to the polls at least 10 times, not including municipal elections. This works out approximately to one election per year. In addition to the federal and territorial elections, there were plebiscites on the boundaries of the new territory, the location of the capital, and gender parity.

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Turnout in the boundary plebiscite would have been elevated by fears that a low rate of turnout among the Inuit would have allowed the majority of Mackenzie Valley voters to dictate developments in the eastern Arctic. In Nunavut right now, each resident will have a federal MP, elected every four or five years, a territorial legislative member, elected up to every 5 years, a mayor and a host of municipal councillors, approximately nine per community.

The terms for these posts are four years in length but the elections are staggered. In addition, if individuals do not come forward as candidates, vacant positions are re-opened for competition the following year. This means that individuals may have an opportunity to vote in community elections every year or two. For Inuit voters, there are additional opportunities to vote in the staggered elections for NTI and the relevant regional Inuit association.

The result is that the Inuit in Nunavut are expected at the polling station approximately once a year, often more than that. Indeed, because so few NTI presidents have served a full four-year term, elections have been more frequent than intended. As a result, voters in Nunavut, and particularly Inuit voters, have been to the polls more frequently than those in any other province or territory in the country. Attempting to explain turnout levels in Nunavut, and analyzing the impact of various predictors are two different things. The following analysis employs turnout in four elections, , , and as the dependent variable.

The independent variables are tied to the predictors mentioned in the discussion above. Population, population change and population density are included as a test of community cohesiveness. If voters are geographically dispersed they are less likely to vote. Similarly, a high degree of voter mobility could indicate lower levels of local political knowledge or engagement. Age and university education are included as both are viewed as predictors of increased turnout. The number of Inuit in a constituency is included as a test of civic fatigue.

If Inuit enjoy more frequent opportunities to vote, and trips to the polls are seen as predictors of lower turnout, then we might expect that turnout in communities with a higher proportion of Inuit would be lower. Family income is included as a measure of civic engagement. Whether the incumbent ran in the race can be seen as an imperfect test of whether the electoral campaign was closely fought. The number of candidates is also included as a test of the campaign climate. Table 4 summarizes the results of standard OLS regression results for the and territorial elections.

Results are standardized beta coefficients from ols regression with standard errors in parentheses. Table 4 indicates that there are three statistically significant predictors of turnout in and one significant predictor of turnout in In both elections, as the proportion of the Inuit population increases in a community, so too does turnout. If Inuit voters have greater opportunities to vote, and thus greater capacity for civic fatigue, their proportion in communities seems to have a surprising impact on turnout.

This could have less to do with Inuit voters themselves, and more to do with the non-Inuit population. Non-Inuit residents tend to remain in the territory for shorter periods, arriving for employment opportunities and then returning South. If non-Inuit voters are newer arrivals, or plan to stay for only a few years, then they may not participate in political processes the way they might down South. This would likely be most evident in Iqaluit. In communities with higher proportions of Inuit voters, non-Inuit voters may be longer-term residents, and thus more likely to participate.

In addition, in the earlier territorial election, size of community and family income also had a positive impact on turnout. In other words, in the NWT election turnout was higher in larger communities with predominantly Inuit populations and higher family incomes. It was lower in more heterogeneous communities such as Iqaluit and in smaller communities. In , however, both size and income ceased to be significant predictors of turnout. An identical model cannot be run for the and elections.

The presence of the incumbent and number of candidates was identical for all communities. As a result it was not possible to include these variables. A better understanding of turnout in federal elections can be gleaned from additional data. The survey relied on face-to-face interviews conducted in either English or Inuktitut. The sample for the survey was large, at just over 5, The questionnaire asked respondents whether they voted in the previous election. This survey also asked individuals about their perceptions of the land claim and the impact of Nunavut on themselves, their community and Nunavut as a whole.

Generalized disaffection with the political system could dampen turnout, as individuals who are unhappy with the current state of the government might choose to express their views by avoiding the ballot box. Attitudes to Nunavut are generally positive at present. Over half of all Nunavummiut feel the land claim has had a positive impact on their lives. This is not unexpected, as the land claim contains few provisions that would have a direct impact on non-Inuit. The indirect impact on society as a whole should not be ignored. Implementation of the land claim included the creation of the Nunavut government, which significantly increased the number of high-paying civil service positions in the territory, the majority of which have been filled by non-Inuit.

It is also worth noting that non-Inuit did not believe that the land claim had had a negative impact, but that it had no discernable impact on them as individuals. The survey also asked respondents about their perceptions of the new territory. The proportion of Inuit who believe that the territory has had a positive impact on all Nunavummiut or on the community tends to be lower than for non-Inuit. The gap is smaller for impact on the community but still present.

Only on the perceived impact of Nunavut on the individual are Inuit assessments more positive than those of non-Inuit. Almost three quarters of Inuit believe that Nunavut has had a positive impact on them, while less than two thirds of non-Inuit believe this. The previous discussion suggests that perceptions of Nunavut are generally positive. We can include measures of support for the land claim and Nunavut alongside predictors that approximate the model for the territorial elections.

Age, university and income of respondent are included to determine if they function differently than in territorial elections.

Similarly, status as land claim beneficiary has been included as a test of civic fatigue. Whether the respondent lives in a small community, with a population of fewer than 1,, replaces the population and population density measures included in the territorial model. Table 5 shows that age and income have the intended positive impact on turnout.

Level of education is also a significant predictor of voter behaviour. Thus when examined at the individual level rather than in aggregate-level data, these predictors have the intended impact on voter turnout. As the territorial model suggested, whether a respondent is Inuit or not does have a significant impact on voting. Despite the capacity for civic fatigue among Inuit voters, they tend to vote more frequently than their Qallunaat counterparts. Positive evaluations of the land claim and of Nunavut have a small but significant impact on voter turnout, suggesting that engagement with the political system as a whole is a positive predictor of voting.

In short, while the aggregate level results suggested that the proportion of Inuit residents was the only consistent statistically significant predictor of voting, the individual results not only confirm this view but also point to other factors affecting turnout. Two things are worth noting. First, the adjusted R 2 for the model is quite low, at.

This suggests that the model is not providing us with a comprehensive vision of turnout in Nunavut. With a sample of just under 6,, it is possible but very unlikely that the NuHS uncovered a pocket of voters and consistently excluded non-voters. The gap, however, between the actual turnout rate and the turnout rate of NuHS respondents inhibits the ability of the model to assess predictors of voting.

For Milbrath , turnout was the lowest form of political participation. These individuals were at the apex of political involvement, more involved, more informed and certainly more active and influential than other citizens. We know from previous sections that turnout rates for federal elections are lower in Nunavut. In territorial elections, predictors such as age and income have an expected impact on turnout. Indeed given the presence of multiple factors that would drive down political activity it is remarkable that turnout is not lower in the territory.

If, at first glance patterns of political behaviour in Nunavut suggest declining voter participation and engagement, an examination of turnout suggests this is not the case. Examinations of electoral office show that there are more elected positions per capita in Nunavut than in other parts of the country. As mentioned previously, there is a wide array of elected positions for which one might stand in Nunavut. Opportunities to vote are accompanied by opportunities to stand as candidates for election. There are elected positions in the territory, not including bodies that elect members from general assemblies or single issue bodies such as hunter and trappers organizations, the district education authorities, the boards of directors of the community housing associations or the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

This number includes all elected posts at the federal, territorial, municipal level and the positions available in the birthright organizations. In other words, at any one time, 1. Although some individuals may hold more than one position at any one time, the capacity for involvement is quite high. This compares to a typical municipality in Canada, such as Windsor, which, with a population of , has elected positions for.

If we assume that these electoral contests are fought by similar numbers of individuals then the proportion of the population competing for electoral seats is 1. We can also compare the propensity of individuals to stand as candidates at the various levels of office. For every elected position, it indicates the number of individuals competing for posts.

With five candidates vying for one seat at the House of Commons, the federal election witnesses the greatest competition for seats. It also involves far fewer individuals than most other competitions. The municipal elections, for example, included candidates. These numbers mask, to a certain extent, variations within Nunavut.

In the municipal elections some communities saw 12 or 13 candidates vying for five positions on council. In other communities, seats went unfilled as candidates failed to materialize. In Kimmirut, for example, only one candidate campaigned for the four seats on council. Variations tend to be regional. The Kivalliq, or Keewatin, region in Nunavut, found above Manitoba on the mainland of Canada, witnesses the greatest competition for seats. For every mayoral seat in the Kivalliq, 2.

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This compares to an average contest of two candidates per seat in the other regions. This pattern holds true for council seats as well. In the Kitikmeot and Baffin regions, three candidates contest every two seats on council. The number is much higher in the Kivalliq, with 2. This number, and the number for mayors, indicates the number of vacant positions rather than the total number of councillors or mayors in Nunavut.

Of the 19 current representatives, five had held elected office at the territorial level in the Legislature of the Northwest Territory. A further five had served as mayors of their respective communities and one served as a deputy mayor. Only four MLAs had not served a term in elected office for a public government before Two, including the premier, had no previous electoral experience, a third ran the local hunter and trapper organization, while a fourth was an elected board member of QIA, the regional Inuit Association in the Baffin.

Devolution may have created the opportunity for new individuals to come forward as political candidates. Those elected, however, represent a seasoned political class. Whereas the 19 new positions could have allowed political neophytes to hold office in Iqaluit, the election appears to have created space at other points in the political system. Milbrath argued that the hierarchy of political participation operated as a pyramid, that most people would vote, still fewer would pay attention to politics consistently and fewer still would hold elected office.

This is certainly true in both southern Canadian provinces and in Nunavut. That pyramid, however, would have a slightly different shape in Nunavut, with a narrower base at the bottom and a slightly larger point at the top. If we have reason to believe that political engagement is low in Nunavut, due to the absence of political parties and a daily media, evidence suggests that this is not the case. Whatever dampening effect the absence of political parties might have, this appears to be offset by the greater opportunity for political engagement in the territory.

In addition these results suggest that southern notions of political engagement and their dependence on features of southern political life fail to provide much insight into political behaviour in Nunavut. How many of you remember the first time you ever voted?

My first time to vote was in My parents had never voted. They were passionate about politics and felt rescued from the ravages of the Depression by FDR, but had never voted. They had a variety of reasons not to vote, but I think they simply felt intimidated by the process. When they were in their sixties and I was in my twenties, I helped. This year the squirrels are lazy as town dogs, and I love them for it. As a working writer, I find my inspiration often comes from—in addition to childhood nostalgia—looking out the window and seeing what is transpiring in my own backyard.

I have seen next to no squirrels this year. Let me be perfectly clear, this is not due to in. While we were in Dallas Big Tex debuted a sporty new shirt. Ebola made a nasty appearance. Happy October from West Texas. Growing up on a cotton farm brings back very different recollections of fall.

Autumn meant picking cotton. The year I turned six was a triumph for me when I was big enough to join the family in pulling those fluffy white bolls from the plants. We had just moved to town from the farm but still had to go back a. Guest blogger Arleen Williams: Seattle is a city replete with readers, writers, and coffee shops. In many of these coffee shops, writers meet on a regular basis to do timed-writing practice, a style of shared and supportive writing first promoted in by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones.

Some of these writing groups are open to anyone interested in stopping by with pen and paper to give it a try. Others have a set membership and shared culture of writing and sharing work. These are not critique group. Sometimes File is the only way to unscramble Life.

The snowpile of receipts, bills, coupons, bills, catalogs, bills, business cards, bills, letters, bills, newspapers, and bills that my desk has become. Photo courtesy WikipediaFor me, that means hauling out the p. Is the Paragraph Ranch a real place? Happy Friday from the Paragraph Ranch. I've had several folks say they'd like to visit the Ranch and have asked me if it's a real place. That's a good question. It was a ramshackle place my parents received as a part of their cotton farming lease.

But for a kid it was pretty amazing. I imagine every one of us has a memory of how we got started writing.

Barbara Brannon

My co-author of The Paragraph Ranch, Kay Ellington, remembered the time in fourth grade when she launched a handwritten newspaper. This is from a memoir-in-progress, Editing Elsie: I have always written. In the fourth grade I took a piece of notebook paper and created The Mudville News, drawing pictures and writing stories about the people at East Elementary. My classmates really liked it, but I couldn't keep up, producing all those copies by hand. If only I'd had an iPad back then. Despite my passion for prose, upon graduation from college I quickly succumbed to pressures to abandon my assistant editor's job at a trade journal for something more practical.

The Paragraph Ranch is a contemporary novel about the writing life that takes place in the very real state of Texas. But the Paragraph Ranch is also a place, both physical and virtual, where writers come together to learn the craft and business. Popularity Popularity Featured Price: Low to High Price: