Paul Okalik MLA (Inuktitut: ᐹᓪ ᐅᑲᓕᖅ, IPA: [paːl ukaliq]; born May 26, 1964)[1] is a Canadian politician.

He began a series of temporary jobs and pursuits including time as an apprentice underground at the Nanisivik Mine in northern Baffin Island.

Okalik continued his claims work, and began University as a mature student, serving as a representative on the Nunavut Implementation Panel.

In 1998 he returned to Iqaluit to article at Crawford Law Office, working briefly in Yellowknife and with the Maliganik Tukisiniakvik legal aid clinic.

On March 5, 1999 after an extensive Leadership Forum question and answer period in the Assembly, Okalik was elected the first Premier of Nunavut.

One of Okalik's primary goals as premier of Nunavut was to make the territory economically self-sufficient, as currently 90% of their budget comes from the federal government.

[9][10] On November 4, 2010, Okalik was elected the Speaker of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, replacing James Arreak who had resigned to become a cabinet minister.

[14] During the 2015 Canadian federal election, Okalik protested a 2014 incident in which Aglukkaq read a newspaper during Question Period while opposition parties asked about exorbitant food prices in the North by reading a newspaper whenever Aglukkaq spoke at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation election forum in Iqaluit.

Immediately in 1999 the new Nunavut government recommenced the construction of public housing, which the NWT had abandoned, taking the first steps to address the massive overcrowding and severe housing deficit facing all Nunavut communities, as well as developing innovations in assisting home ownership and first time purchasers.

The decade saw a steady rise in Grade 12 graduations for Nunavummiut youth across the territory, although still falling short of Canadian national rates.

[22] Long overdue health facilities were constructed in the regional centres of Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay, infant and child inoculation rates were expanded,[23] more physicians took up residence in the territory, the first Inuit certified midwives graduated[24] and a series of elder-care facilities were planned and constructed.

[26] In the first ten years of Nunavut, Inuit employment rates far exceeded those in the former Northwest Territories and showed stead improvement since 1999;[27] however, these rates were still highest in the lowest education and pay categories, skilled positions remained unfilled in many communities, and the classic issues around minority employment efforts became part of the Nunavut public agenda.

Okalik introduced the first Nunavut Human Rights Act, which had never been done in the former NWT, and took a principled stand on its need to cover homosexuals.

The consultative process of the Wildlife Act, which implemented and supported the hunting rights set out in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement,[29] was an extensive piece of work, frequently attempted but never accomplished in the former Northwest Territories.

[citation needed] The consolidation of the Health and Education Boards was accomplished in the first year of the first Assembly, when the value of common institutions was generally accepted.

Okalik along with colleagues Ed Picco and Hunter Tootoo and Rebekah Williams[30] refused to accept a supplementary pension for members created by the Assembly which he deemed "excessive".

[31] Okalik was perceived as strategic, intelligent, a very quick and thorough study in his work, while his adversaries characterized him as short-tempered and aggressive, especially in his second term.

During his almost ten years in office he was a reliable advocate for Nunavut among Canadian First Ministers, leading a public challenge to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the terms of access to medical care for Nunavut,[32] revitalizing the Northern Premiers Forums, and being a founding member of the Council of the Federation.

During the last week of June 2007, Okalik reportedly made derogatory comments to Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik about Lynda Gunn, an executive from the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, allegedly calling her a "fucking bitch".