The 1995 Nunavut land sales vote: by the numbers

The pink areas in this map of Rankin Inlet, harvested from a Government of Nunavut background document, show what is owned by the municipality and therefore subject to sale after a Yes vote today in the municipal lands referendum. The green is “untitled” land and the white is “other.”

It’s voting day today across Nunavut: residents will decide whether they want their town or city to be able to sell municipal land.

When voters went to the polls 20 years ago, in a similar vote in 1995, they all voted No — but one only narrowly.

You can probably guess which one bucked the trend: Iqaluit.

In a February power point presentation recently pulled from the Government of Nunavut’s land referendum website, it appears that of Iqaluit’s 1,831 eligible voters in 1995, only 32 per cent cast ballots — the lowest turnout from across the territory.

But those who did vote were closely divided: 310 voted No and 269 voted Yes.

The highest voter turnout for that 1995 referendum, at 62 per cent, was in Hall Beach. Of the votes cast there, 154 voted No and six voted Yes.

According to the vote counts, some communities were more decided than others.

Kivalliq communities were securely on the No side with Whale Cove having the highest Yes percentage of voters at 29 per cent. Rankin Inlet was a close second, with 28 per cent voting Yes.

In the Baffin region, Iqaluit had the highest percentage of Yes voters with 46 per cent. That was followed by Cape Dorset with 23 per cent voting Yes.

In the Kitikmeot region, Yes voters were in a big minority. Cambridge Bay had the highest percentage of Yes voters with 19 per cent followed by Kugluktuk with 17 per cent, then Coppermine, with 12 per cent.

The background document goes on to explain the history of the referendum, why it’s being held, that the GN will remain neutral throughout the process, and some of the facts around land leasing and sales.

It also shows detailed maps of Kugluktuk, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit outlining what lands are currently owned by municipalities and therefore which lands could potentially be up for sale or for a transfer of title to fee simple after a Yes vote in those communities.

But as the GN has said before, a Yes vote only gives a municipality the ability to choose whether to sell lands. It’s up to municipal councils to decide afterward whether to sell land, and which parcels to sell.

The document also outlines a few facts not mentioned often:

• if there is a Yes vote, and municipalities decide to sell land, they will have to decide whether individuals with standard leases will be forced to purchase that land once their lease has expired;

• it’s possible that councils may at some point decided to impose residency restrictions on the sale or lease of lots but that would require amendments to territorial laws;

• if a community votes No and then the people change their mind, according to the Plebiscite Act, that municipality could hold another plebiscite but only after five years have passed;

• if a community votes Yes and the people change their mind, there is no method of reversing the decision. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement only stipulates that a referendum can be held to remove the restriction of selling municipal land, not to impose a restriction.

If you want to see more details on how your community voted in 1995, go to the GN document here.

For more information on how to vote today, go here.