Nunavut MLA Pauloosie Keyootak among 3 missing on Baffin Island

Uqqummiut MLAPauloosieKeyootakis among one ofthreetravellers missing in Nunavut.

EdZebedee, the Government ofNunavut'semergency servicesco-ordinator,saidKeyootak, his young son and another adult were supposed to arrive in Pangnirtung last Wednesday but they never showed up.

They left Iqaluit on twosnowmobiles last Tuesday and were planning to go on to Qikiqtarjuaq after arriving in Pangnirtung.

Zebedee said there is an active search for the travellers.

"We sent out a team from Iqaluit yesterday and they went to Cabin 3 near Iqaluit Lake searching the Pangnirtung Trail," he said. "They overnighted there and they are working their way back today."

Zebedee said the ground team is returning to Iqaluit to re-assess search efforts.There's also an aircraft with eight spotterssearching for the group.

Zebedee saidthe travellers have no means of communication with them.

Officials may call in additional help from the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax and Joint Task Force North, Zebedee said.

It's been a busy weekend for search-and-rescue services in Nunavut, Zebedee added. Five searches began over the Easter weekend, bringing the total to 58 so far this year.

Keyootak, from Qikiqtarjuaq, was elected to the Nunavutlegislature in February2015, defeating two other candidates in a byelection.