Legislative Assembly of Nunavut

The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the elected assembly of the Legislature of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, which is composed of the Assembly and the Commissioner of Nunavut, appointed by the federal government. It sits in the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit. The first Nunavut Legislature was chosen in the general election of 15 February 1999, before the territory was created on 1 April 1999, and until the Legislative Building opened in October 1999 the members met in the gymnasium of Inuksuk High School. Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the Assembly on 7 October 2002 during her Golden Jubilee tour. The territory is governed by consensus: there are no political parties, and about two weeks after an election the newly elected members meet in a special session called the Nunavut Leadership Forum to select the Executive Council, or cabinet. Members are sworn in by the commissioner. Its Hansard is published in Inuktitut syllabics and English, making Nunavut one of three Canadian jurisdictions with a bilingual Hansard. The Assembly currently has 22 seats.