My Little Corner of Canada, Jan. 30

Nunavut has the potential to have a productive economy. We have a lot natural resources which the world wants.

But, at the moment, we are poor compared to other regions of Canada.

We occupy 40 per cent of Canada’s lands and waters. We have a large territory but our population would not even fill some football stadiums in the south.vBecause of our small population, we only have one member of Parliament in Ottawa and as a result we have little political clout in national affairs and our needs are generally ignored during federal elections.

Political leaders do like to have their pictures taken with ice and snow and smiling Inuit in the background.

The Inuit of Nunavut are still just trying to recover from the crushing effects of colonialism of our recent past. We have social ills which we must heal.

Even though we now have our own government and a land claims agreement, we are still constitutionally colonial subjects of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

The minister of that department is still the colonial czar of our territory and our people. That is why devolution from Ottawa to Nunavut is so important.

We have all these things going against us, but we do have a couple of things to our advantage.

One: Nunavut is our ancestral homeland and that is something no one can ever take away from us.

Two: Nunavut is still a baby. We will grow and mature.

Because we are still young, we can dare to dream. We want a society where everyone respects each other.Where everyone feels safe and secure.

Nunavut is our little corner of Canada. It is our neighborhood in the Canadian village. In this neighborhood, all races, religions, languages, and sexual orientations are respected.

All residents of Nunavut, Inuit and non-Inuit alike, should imagine this dream.

Decades ago, Nunavut was only a dream. Look where we are now and imagine where we can go.

An Old Adage

A baby must learn to crawl before she/he can walk.

This Corner Quotes

“Imagine.”>
— A song by John Lennon