Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-18 · by Katrine Desautels The Canadian Press
North of the 55th parallel, there are few indications that a five-party race is underway to elect Quebec’s next government.
asserted
race → be → government
The northern riding is the largest in the province, covering an area larger than Alberta.
asserted
riding → cover → Alberta
In addition to Nunavik, the riding includes about twenty sparsely populated municipalities, including Chibougamau, Chapais, and the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.
asserted
riding → include → Chibougamau
The average person in the riding is under 33 years old and more than two thirds of the people who live in the riding identify as Indigenous, according to riding data compiled by Élections Québec.
uncertain
who → live → Québec
Several residents approached by The Canadian Press during a recent trip to Nunavik said they were unaware that a provincial campaign was underway and that they don’t generally follow provincial politics.
asserted
they → approach → politics
All five major parties have officially registered a candidate to represent the riding.
asserted
parties → register → riding
The absence of campaign signs does not mean there’s no campaigning in the north, Liberal candidate Sandrine Rioux said in an email.
asserted
Rioux → mean → email
To reach voters, the party plans to run advertisements on northern radio stations, as does Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois.
asserted
solidaire → reach → stations
The Parti Québécois pointed out that its candidate, Sonia Caron, has met with a number of organizations in Nunavik, particularly in the health and education fields.
asserted
candidate → point → fields
“Ms. Caron has already established strong ties with northern stakeholders, which allows her to adapt her methods for reaching voters, particularly by phone or video conference,” wrote a party spokesperson by email.
asserted
spokesperson → establish → email
Unlike Caron, who was nominated in April, Québec solidaire candidate Antoine Côté was named late.
asserted
Côté → nominate → April
For that reason, and due to the size of the riding, no campaign signs have been posted, the party explained in an email.
asserted
party → post → email
However, Côté is still campaigning, it added.
asserted
it → campaign → ?
“We also have a lot of content on our various pages to try to get people interested in our ideas, given that more and more people are consuming political content online,” a party spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → have → content
The Liberal party also plans to run targeted digital campaigns on Facebook and Instagram that are adapted to the issues facing the riding’s various communities.
asserted
that → plan → communities
“The realities of Jamésie, Eeyou Istchee, and Nunavik are different, and our communication strategies must reflect that as well,” Rioux wrote.
asserted
Rioux → reflect → that
She has pledged that her first official trip, if elected, will be to Kuujjuaq in Nunavik.
asserted
trip → pledge → Nunavik
Requests made to the Conservative Party and the Coalition Avenir Québec regarding its candidates went unanswered.
asserted
Requests → make → candidates
Numbers compiled over the past two decades reflect how Indigenous communities in Quebec have largely turned away from participating in Quebec elections.
asserted
communities → compile → elections
In May, the province’s electoral oversight agency, Élections Québec, published data showing the average voter turnout for provincial elections in Indigenous communities in Quebec was at about 19 per cent since 2007, compared to close to 68 per cent provincewide.
uncertain
turnout → publish → cent
These rates vary from community to community.
asserted
rates → vary → community
Despite lower voter turnout, some residents expressed deep concern about the issues facing their communities.
asserted
residents → express → communities
One Friday morning in early September, about 20 residents gathered at the community centre in Puvirnituq, a village of roughly 2,000 people in Nunavik, chatting and enjoying sunshine, which was unusually warm for the time of year.
asserted
which → gather → year
Residents say climate change and housing are among the concerns for the local population.
asserted
change → say → population
According to the 2021 census, Nunavik had just over 14,000 residents, with a natural growth rate of three to four times higher than the Quebec average.
uncertain
Nunavik → accord → average
A spokesperson for Élections Québec said recently that the agency isn’t campaigning to increase voter participation in Indigenous communities, but is focusing instead on making sure that voting is accessible.
asserted
is → say → communities
Those efforts include sending out trilingual documents with voting information in French, English and local languages to post office boxes in Inuit, Cree and Naskapi communities, spokesperson Julie St-Arnaud-Drolet said.
asserted
Drolet → include → communities
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2026.
asserted
report → publish → Press
The Aporia
