{"id":98522,"date":"2025-10-24T14:36:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=98522"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:36:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:36:34","slug":"homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Homelessness a major issue for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Homelessness, housing and the lack of shelter options for residents travelling to see a doctor are among the biggest issues for the two Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates in the upcoming territorial election. Incumbent MLA Alexander Sammurtok said part of what is driving the issue is a lack of facilities. &#8220;When people are travelling to Rankin Inlet for medical reasons, and the plane is cancelled due to weather or mechanical issues, the patients have no place to go when the hotels are full. I\u2019ve been advocating for a transfer centre to be built in Rankin Inlet,&#8221; Sammurtok said. Challenger Cathy Q Towtongie said economic and federal programs are a major driver of poverty in the hamlets. &#8220;Cost of living \u2014&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F24%2Fhomelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Homelessness, housing and the lack of shelter options for residents travelling to see a doctor are among the biggest issues for the two Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates in the upcoming territorial election. Incumbent MLA Alexander Sammurtok said part of what is driving the issue is a lack of facilities. &#8220;When people are travelling to Rankin Inlet for medical reasons, and the plane is cancelled due to weather or mechanical issues, the patients have no place to go when the hotels are full. I\u2019ve been advocating for a transfer centre to be built in Rankin Inlet,&#8221; Sammurtok said. Challenger Cathy Q Towtongie said economic and federal programs are a major driver of poverty in the hamlets. &#8220;Cost of living \u2014... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F24%2Fhomelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Homelessness a major issue for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homelessness a major issue for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News Homelessness, housing and the lack of shelter options for residents travelling to see a doctor are among the biggest issues for the two Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates in the upcoming territorial election. Incumbent MLA Alexander Sammurtok said part of what is driving the issue is a lack of facilities. &#8220;When people are travelling to Rankin Inlet for medical reasons, and the plane is cancelled due to weather or mechanical issues, the patients have no place to go when the hotels are full. I\u2019ve been advocating for a transfer centre to be built in Rankin Inlet,&#8221; Sammurtok said. Challenger Cathy Q Towtongie said economic and federal programs are a major driver of poverty in the hamlets. &#8220;Cost of living \u2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-24T18:36:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Homelessness a major issue for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-24T18:36:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":362,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/homelessness-a-major-issue-for-rankin-inlet-north-chesterfield-inlet-candidates\\\/\",\"name\":\"Homelessness a major issue for Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet candidates - 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