Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, is currently on a northern tour that started in Inuvik and is finishing today in Iqaluit. He and his team arrived last night on a regular old First Air flight from Yellowknife via Rankin Inlet - no charter, no special security detail - and, as noted by Jack Anawak, former Liberal MP for Nunavut, had to collect his own bags in our little yellow airport. From the get-go, it seemed like Trudeau in Iqaluit was going to be a little bit different than what we are used to with political visits.

Trudeau's first public appearance was at a community feast at Nakasuk School, attended by about 150 Iqalummiut who, upon his entrance, shifted their attention from the frozen food to warmly welcome the Liberal Party Leader. With son Xavier in tow, Trudeau graciously made his way around the room as people began to help themselves to the char, maktaaq, and tuktu (a special delivery; it came on the same flight as Trudeau and his team). Trudeau specifically stated that he wasn't going to campaign on this northern sojourn, and thus didn't mention policies or programs he would support or implement in any of his addresses. Instead, he delivered crowd-pleasing statements like, "Nunavut needs an MP that offers a Nunavut voice in Ottawa, not an Ottawa voice in Nunavut."