End Nunavik’s support for Plan Nord: I-CAN
Plan Nord is “too vague”
Kativik Regional Government Chair Maggie Emudluk, left and Makivik Corp. President Pita Aatami add their signature to the Plan Nord at its May 9 launch in Lévis, QC. (FILE PHOTO)
A citizens group in Nunavik wants the region to withdraw its support for Quebec’s Plan Nord until a new governance agreement is negotiated.
The Inuit Citizens Assembly of Nunavik, known as I-CAN, made that pitch at a recent meeting on self-rule held in Kuujjuaq Nov. 15 to 17.
“We suggest that [Nunavik] withdraw its endorsement to Plan Nord until we have a self-government arrangement,” Jobie Epoo, spokesperson for I-CAN, told Nunatsiaq News “The more we see, the Plan Nord is too vague and people feel like Quebec is losing too much control over development.”
Epoo says that I-CAN does not agree with Nunavik’s support for Plan Nord, a development scheme which Innu on Quebec’s Lower North Shore recently rejected.
Kativik Regional Government chairperson Maggie Emudluk and Makivik Corp. president Pita Aatami both added their signatures to the plan at its May 2011 launch, although the gesture was symbolic and not a legal contract.
Epoo said any future development planned for the region should be part of self-rule negotiations — and be approved by Nunavimmiut.
“It’s pretty clear that the [last] proposed agreement didn’t give us what we were really seeking,” said Epoo, who attended the Kuujjuaq meeting as one of four Inukjuak delegates.
“There was no concrete assurance that we’d have more autonomy or power over our land base,” he said, in reference to the proposed Nunavik Regional Government agreement, which was rejected in last April’s referendum.
In a discussion paper adopted at the three-day meeting, Nunavimmiut drafted 22 principles and objectives which should form the basis of any future negotiations on self-government.
Point 21 says that the Plan Nord “should not proceed unless agreed to by the Nunavik Inuit.”
But I-CAN does not agree with the discussion paper as it was adopted Nov. 17, said Epoo, acknowledging it was difficult for the meeting’s chairs to incorporate everyone’s ideas into the document.
“We don’t agree with every point on the paper,” he said. “The declaration should be much shorter, more straightforward.”
Point two, which says the Nunavik government will respect the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, is invalid, Epoo said.
That’s because Nunavimmiut cannot enjoy the same rights as people in the South, such as the ability to own land, under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
Epoo also disagrees with point four, which says the Nunavik government will come under the jurisdiction of the Quebec national assembly.
Whatever is finalized at Makivik Corp.’s next meeting must offer the guarantee of more autonomy and power over the land north of the 55th parallel, Epoo said – a point where I-CAN believes the NRG fell short.
“We’re not simply going to make some changes to the last agreement,” Epoo said. “This is a whole new ballgame and we’re very happy to take part.”
Epoo said Nunavimmiut should have time to finalize the discussion paper in time for Makivik’s 2012 annual general meeting, when he is “confident there will be consensus.”
“One of our main concerns was the first referendum, there was a lack of consultation with Inuit of the draft itself,” Epoo said. “At this meeting, everyone has a chance to speak and there was a whole range of opinions from every demographic.”
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