He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories in 1995 and served until Nunavut was created in 1999.
In 1999 he was elected to the 1st Legislative Assembly of Nunavut but had to resign in August 2000 after being convicted of sexual assault.
The two scandals rocked the new government, and caused a substantial drop in positive public opinion.
Barnabas ran in the December 2000 by-election but was defeated by Rebekah Williams.
He ran again in the 2004 Nunavut election in a hotly contested race and defeated Williams by doubling her vote count.