Parliamentary Relatives: A Northern Family’s Tradition of Service

On March 3, 2023, history was made in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut when Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA and Deputy Speaker George Hickes took the Chair for a day in the absence of the Speaker.

Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster noted the historic nature of the occasion during her Member’s Statement, in which she drew the attention of the House to the likelihood that a former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, also named George Hickes, would be watching the day’s livestreamed proceedings from his home in Winnipeg.

Messrs. Hickes and Hickes are father and son.

Hickes Sr. served five terms as the MLA for the constituency of Point Douglas in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba prior to his retirement in 2011. Three of those terms were as Speaker (1999-2011). An Inuk who was born in what is now Nunavut, he was raised in Churchill and was the first Inuktitut-speaking Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

Hickes Jr. is currently serving his third term as the MLA for the constituency of Iqaluit-Tasiluk in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. During his previous terms of office, he held a number of Ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Health and Minister of Justice.

Alex Baldwin

Office of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut