Nunavik wins social housing dispute with Ottawa

KUUJJUAQ — It looks as if Nunavik will win its social housing dispute with Ottawa.

The Makivik Corporation has been trying to force Ottawa to comply with a section of the James Bay land claim agreement that, in Makivik’s opinion, requires Ottawa to provide social housing to Nunavik Inuit.

A little over a year ago, Makivik invoked the James Bay agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism, saying the federal government hadn’t lived up to its obligations under the 1975 land claim deal.

A recent judgement in Makivik’s favour through the dispute resolution mechanism means that the federal government will have to pay once more for the construction of new social housing units in Nunavik.

“They’ve acknowledged that they have a responsibility for housing,” Makivik President Pita Aatami told Nunatsiaq News.

The decision, worth millions of dollars every year, should alleviate the region’s need for more than 400 new dwellings.

Makivik argued that the James Bay agreement guaranteed that existing federal programs would continue to apply to Nunavik.

In 1995, the federal government cut new social housing construction outside of Indian reserves. No construction took place until this year, when the federal and provincial governments came up with a $10 million plan for new social housing.