Nancy Karetak-Lindell


Nancy Uqquujuq Karetak-Lindell is a politician who has served as a senator from Nunavut since December 2024 and was previously an MP in the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2008.
Senator Karetak-Lindell is a member of the Independent Senators Group.

Early life and career

She was born in Eskimo Point, Northwest Territories and is Inuk.
Prior to politics, she was a financial comptroller and held councillor positions for the Municipal Hamlet and District Education Authority in Arviat, Nunavut.
She was director of the Jane Glassco Arctic Fellowship Program from 2009 until 2012. Karetak-Lindell served as president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada and has been Chief Returning Officer for multiple Inuit organization elections and has worked for Elections Nunavut.
Karetak-Lindell had been on the board of directors of the Nunavut Development Corporation, the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation, the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Katimavik, Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Northwestel, Polar Knowledge Canada and Thebacha College that transitioned into Arctic College and then, after division of the territories, Nunavut Arctic College. She is currently on the board for Nunavut Trust and a member of the Task Force on Women in the Economy.

Political career

Karetak-Lindell ran for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal candidate during the 1997 federal election in the riding of Nunavut, becoming the first female MP for the Eastern Arctic. She was re-elected in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 elections.
She was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources in 2003. She also served as the chair as well as the vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, a member of the Liaison Committee, Fisheries and Oceans Standing Committee, an associate member of both the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
Karetak-Lindell kept her seat in the 2006 federal election, but later announced she would not seek re-election in the 2008 election and wished to spend more time in the company of her family and to take care of her elderly parents.

Senate

On December 19, 2024, she was summoned to the Senate of Canada by Governor General Mary Simon, on the advice of prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Personal life and awards

In 2022, she was named as a Member of the Order of Canada.
She is the mother to four sons.