Nunavik goes back to people for self-government guidance

Representatives from each Nunavik community and the region’s major organizations came together Nov. 15-17 to draft a declaration for the future direction of the Nunavik government. (PHOTO BY MARY PILURTUUT)

Makivik Corp. President Pita Aatami, left, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Mary Simon chaired the Nunavik government meetings held in Kuujjuaq Nov. 15-17. (PHOTO BY MARY PILURTUUT)

Nunavimmiut hope to start up new negotiations for a Nunavik government.

And a three-day meeting held Nov. 15 to 17 in Kuujjuaq was intended to kick-start those discussions.

The gathering marked the first regional discussion about Nunavik governance since the Nunavik Regional Government model was voted down last April 27.

Dozens of leaders and community representatives from around Nunavik attended the meeting at Kuujjuaq’s Katittavik town hall, chaired jointly by Makivik Corp. president Pita Aatami and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon.

Among the large topics discussed:

• How Nunavik can take control of its land base;

• The pro’s and con’s of forming an ethnic versus a public government;

• How Nunavik can safeguard its language and culture; and,

• The inclusion of non-Inuit in any future vote on Nunavik self-governance.

Delegates to the meeting drafted a document, called “a discussion paper for a Nunavik government,” which has now been sent back to each community for more public discussion.

Recommendations from the communities will then go to Makivik’s annual general meeting in March 2012, to serve as a launching point for future self-government negotiations.

Several of the delegates present at the meeting identified themselves as members of the Inuit Citizens Assembly of Nunavik, a group that formed following the April referendum.

Two-thirds of eligible voters in Nunavik voted April 27 against the proposed NRG, a model that would have merged regional organizations under an elected Nunavik Assembly. The agreement’s second phase provided for negotiations for new powers for the region.

But many Nunavimmiut said they felt that provision was too vague.

I-CAN has said Makivik can’t continue any negotiations on a proposed Nunavik government until it receives a renewed mandate from its members, which could happen at its March meeting.