Nunavik regional government tour kicks off in Kangiqsualujjuaq

More than 70 Kangiqsualujjuaq residents came out Feb. 14 to the first public consultation on the final agreement for the creation of the Nunavik Regional Government. The majority of participants at the three and a half hour meeting were community elders. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

Nunavik negotiatorw Minnie Gray and Harry Tulugak, and Richard Budgell, chief federal negotiator, and Fernand Roy, chief negotiator for Quebec, field questions from Kangiqsualujjuamiut Feb.14 at the first of 14 public consultations to be held across the region. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

Elder Norman Snowball asks question to Nunavik Regional Government negotiators during the first public consultation held in Kangiqsualujjuaq Feb. 14. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

With the Nunavik Regional Government’s long-awaited final agreement now public, Nunavimmiut will learn what their future government may look like during a series of public consultations which started up Feb. 14 in Kangiqsualujjuaq.

The final agreement, which describes in detail the future governance model for Nunavik, was released last week.

And, along with that, came the news that Nunavik residents will vote April 27 on whether to accept the document that spells out how the new Nunavik Regional Government will be created and what how it will operate.

More than 70 residents showed up to the first public consultation in Kangiqsualujjuaq, mainly elders, who rose to ask questions to the agreement’s Nunavik negotiators, Minnie Grey and Harry Tulugak.

“In Kangiqsualujjuaq, there was an overwhelming support for the creation of this future government,” Grey told Nunatsiaq News Feb. 15. “This is another step to improving our lives.”

No one theme stood out from the night, Grey said, although many wanted to know what will happen if the deal is ratified and how they’ll see the future government come into power.

Quebec government negotiator Fernand Roy and federal government negotiator Richard Budgell are also taking part in consultations, which will take place in each of the region’s 14 communities over the next month.

By April, Nunavik residents are expected to have all the information they will need to decide whether to accept or reject the agreement.

The NRG would amalgamate existing regional bodies like the Kativik Regional Government, the Kativik School Board, and the Nunavik regional board of health and social services, putting them under the authority of a new elected body called the Nunavik Assembly.

The assembly would be made up of 20 members; a representative from each of the region’s 14 communities, four executive council members and a leader (elected regionally) and one member from the Naskapi nation.

Regional elections would be held every three years.

The NRG’s “capital city” is still unknown. Grey said it’s “up to the future government to decide where they want to be.”

But, according to what’s in the final agreement, here’s the way the new government is supposed to work:

* The NRG’s administrative departments will look after things like health and social services, education, local and regional affairs, central administration and finances;

* A secretariat general will be responsible for administrative support to the executive council, legal affairs and government relations;

* A budget and resource management policy secretariat will oversee budgets and expenditure control;

* For the first three years of the NRG, advisory councils will be established on education, elders, health and social services and municipal affairs; and

* A transition committee will be established to help the process of amalgamating the KRG, KSB and NRBHSS under one roof.

After the amalgamation date, all financial transfers that the existing organizations now receive from the provincial and federal governments are to be redirected to the NRG.

Grey did not want to reveal the amount of the new government’s start-up costs and operations. These will be made public once the agreement is signed, and will become “an ongoing cost,” she said.

The final agreement as it reads now can’t be changed, although an amendment procedure will be put in place after the official signing, Grey said.

Once the Nunavik tour wraps up, there will be a 38-day referendum period leading up to April 27 when the agreement can no longer be promoted.

“It will be time for Nunavimmiut to debate among themselves,” Grey said.

When Nunavimmiut go the polls in April, it will require more than 50 per cent in support to ratify the agreement.

The referendum will pose this question: Do you approve the final agreement of the creation of the Nunavik Regional Government?

“Now I urge everyone in Nunavik who is eligible to put their vote in on referendum day,” Grey said.

If ratified, the process of adopting legislation to approve the deal will begin at the provincial level, along with the creation of the transition committee.

Despite delays in the release of the final agreement, Grey said they are sticking to the same timetable, which could see the NRG implemented by 2013.

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming NRG community consultations:

Thursday, Feb. 17, Kuujjuaq
Tuesday, Feb. 22, Inukjuaq
Wednesday, Feb. 23, Puvirnituq
Thursday, Feb. 24, Umiujaq
Tuesday, March 1, Kangiqsujuaq
Wednesday, March 2, Quaqtaq
Thursday, March 3, Kangirsuk
Tuesday, March 8, Ivujivik
Wednesday, March 9, Akulivik
Thursday, March 10, Chisasibi

• Full version: Nunavik Government Final Agreement (English) PDF, 315 KB

• Full version: Nunavik Government Final Agreement (French) PDF, 328 KB

• Full version: Nunavik Regional Government Final Agreement (Inuktitut) PDF, 283 KB

• Summary: Nunavik Government Final Agreement (French) PDF, 106 KB


For summaries of the agreement in English and Inuktitut, scroll down to view the documents embedded below:

Summary of Nunavik Regional Government Final Agreement (English)

Summary of Nunavik Regional Government Final Agreement (Inuktitut)