Alisa Blake is the latest person to announce her intention to run for MLA of Nunakput.
She joins incumbent Herb Nakimayak and Annie Steen in her bid to represent the people of the NWT’s northernmost electoral district.
In announcing her intention, Blake focused on affordability and poverty in the territory.
“Many families do not have the financial resources to cover the high cost of living and struggle to provide for their growing families,” she wrote online on Saturday. “The vast majority of people are living below the poverty line.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Blake says she is hearing concerns about the “poor state and lack of adequate housing” as well as what she called a “substandard healthcare system” leading people to experience premature death and long-term illness.
A safety trainer with the Mine Training Society in Yellowknife, Blake said the role she has held for the past five years allowed her to travel “extensively” to the NWT’s communities. She added she has held a seat as a councillor with the hamlet of Fort McPherson and has a background in the housing and aviation industries.
In her announcement, Blake spoke of her family legacy from Fort McPherson and Tuktoyaktuk – her father Buddy Gruben, mother Ruby Blake-Heron, and grandparents.
“My desire is to listen and work with the people of Nunakput to bring about positive change, added resources, and an upgrade of systems that will enhance the lives of the people,” she stated.
Blake was one of 12 to receive the Governor General’s Aboriginal Youth Role Model Award in 2006. A news release at the time cited her achievements in aviation – including a first solo flight in 2005 and participation in a professional pilot program in Red Deer, Alberta.
Blake is a dog musher who has competed on the North American circuit as well as at Yellowknife’s Canadian Championship Dog Derby.
