Kativik Regional Government gives support to NRG

Chief federal negotiator Richard Budgell, far left, speaks to the meeting of Kativik Regional Government councillors Feb. 28 in Kuujjuaq about the details of the proposed Nunavik Regional Government. Seated to his right are negotiators Minnie Grey and Harry Tulugak. Negotiators are touring the region to present the agreement at community consulations leading up to an April 27 referendum.
(PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — Kativik Regional Government councillors came out in favour of the new Nunavik Regional Government Feb. 28, saying the NRG will make for stronger leadership.

“It’s been my dream to discuss all these issues under one roof,” said KRG chairperson Maggie Emudluk. “As an elected leader, sometimes it’s not always clear or easy to deal with social issues, and we can’t always please everyone.

“But with one leadership, we’ll be stronger.”

The proposed Nunavik Regional Government would merge the KRG, the Kativik School Board and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services into one body.

After last month’s release of the draft agreement, which outlines the new government, its negotiators, Minnie Grey and Harry Tulugak are touring Nunavik to explain the agreement’s details to Nunavimmiut.

And Grey and Tulugak, along with chief negotiators from the federal and provincial governments, attended a meeting of KRG regional councillors in Kuujjuaq Feb. 28.

“I was a little bit wary but now I cannot wait for the creation of the NRG, if it came to be,” said KRG vice-chairperson Joseph Annahatak.

The NRG will move ahead if at least 50 per cent plus one of eligible voters cast a ballot in the April 27 referendum, and at least 50 per cent plus one of these voters say yes to the NRG.

If the population votes in favour, the agreement could be signed in 2011, Grey said.

A transition committee, with members of a committee recommended by Makivik Corp. and named Quebec, could be formed as soon as 2012, she said.

Negotiators pinpoint the spring of 2013 as the potential launch date for the new government, if ratified.

But with another week left in the information tour, the negotiating team is still clarifying major points in the draft agreement, which was released to the public in early February.

A common concern expressed by Nunavimmiut is that the NRG will replace the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Grey said, or somehow affect Inuit rights.

Many of these concerns came through at the public meeting Feb. 22 in Inukjuak, where criticism of the new governance model has been strong.

“This is only a process of amalgamating three institutions into what will be a Nunavik Regional Government,” Grey said, adding that the JBNQA is constitutionally protected.

“It’s because of the JBNQA that we were able to negotiate for the NRG agreement,” Grey said. “The NRG will negotiate for new powers during phase two.”

Executive KRG councillor Mary Pilurtuut, who expressed her support for the new model, asked negotiators how difficult it would be to re-start the negotiation process in the event that the agreement is rejected in April.

“It would certainly add years to the process,” said Richard Budgell, chief negotiator for the federal government. “But the decision belongs to the Nunavimmiut. We’ll have a very interesting day on April 27 while we wait for the results.”

Addressing fears that the region isn’t ready for change, Grey told councillors that Nunavik has little to lose through the creation of the NRG.

“If people only live in fear, we’ll never move forward,” she said. “We’ll never know unless we try.”

The negotiating team visits Ungava communities this week before wrapping up their tour in Chisasibi and Montreal next week.

On March 18, negotiators say they “will go silent” to give Nunavimmiut the 38 days to consider the agreement, as required by Quebec’s director general of elections.