Nunavik residents to vote on new government later this year

The final deal for the Nunavik Regional Government, also known as the NRG, should be ready by June, says Nunavik’s chief negotiator Minnie Grey. (FILE PHOTO)

KANGIQSUJUAQ — By year’s end, Nunavik residents will likely vote in a referendum to ratify a new regional government for Nunavik whose final details will be unveiled this May or June

Makivik Corp. had hoped to see a completed agreement for the new government by March 2010.

But unforeseen delays have pushed the delivery of that agreement until early summer, the Nunavik Regional Government’s chief negotiator, Minnie Grey, said in a recent interview.

Grey said a disagreement with the federal government over fiscal policy slowed down negotiations.

Grey wouldn’t elaborate on this hurdle, saying only that federal policy tends to group Inuit with First Nations, when it doesn’t always apply.

“It’s not a deal breaker,” she said. “And we’re not saying we can’t work it out, but the ball is in their court now.”

The Nunavik Regional Government, or NRG, will amalgamate existing regional bodies such as the Kativik Regional Government, the Kativik School Board, and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, and put them under the authority of a new elected body called the Nunavik Assembly.

A five-member executive council — made up of a government leader and four executive members — would be chosen in Nunavik-wide elections to lead a 21-member Nunavik Assembly.

The remaining members of the Nunavik Assembly will, for the most part, resemble the current make-up of the KRG: at least one representative from each Nunavik community, as well as one Naskapi representative.

Because its population is greater than 2,000, Kuujjuaq would likely get two representatives.

For the first three years at least, the new government would receive advice from three advisory councils: one for education, one for social housing and one for health and social services.

Grey said she is now looking at May or June for completion of the final agreement on the new government and its delivery to Makivik Corp., which will then authorize its distribution throughout Nunavik.

After that, Grey and her team plan to tour the region’s communities to explain the deal before putting it to a regional referendum.

The referendum question has yet to be drafted, but the vote will probably be held some time next winter, Grey said.

Nunavimmiut would then be asked to vote accept or reject the agreement.

If approved, the agreement would be signed, likely in early 2011.

After that, the process of amalgamating the Kativik Regional Government, the Nunavik regional health board, and the school board would begin in earnest.

Together, these organizations are supposed to form the foundation of the NRG, Grey said, giving the region the ability “to deal with Nunavik’s issues under one roof.”

The NRG could come into force by April 2013.

Overall, Grey says that the response to the plan has been “very positive.”

But some community leaders at Makivik’s recent annual general meeting said many people are still unclear about what Nunavik’s new government would look like.

Grey and her co-negotiator Harry Tulugak have not had enough of a presence in the region’s communities, a delegate said.

“I have to disagree,” said Grey. “If someone doesn’t understand this file, it’s because they don’t go out and try to understand. It’s an individual effort, too.”

As the process nears the conclusion of its final agreement, Grey said she and Tulugak have made efforts to reach as many people as they could during negotiations.

They made regional tours, delivered speeches to post-secondary students in Montreal and to Nunavik organizations and provided regular updates on the trilingual website www.nunavikgovernment.ca, she said.

Grey said her negotiating team are also developing a communications strategy as they head into the last phase of the agreement.

This will include a tour of the region before the issue is put to the population through a referendum.

Despite this, some community leaders say people still want to hear more— now and directly from Grey and Tulugak.

“Many people do not have a clear picture of the plan for self-government,” said Sheila Ningiuruvik, a Makivik board member for Quaqtaq.

They want more information, she said, “and not in terms of reading materials, because people don’t read the reports.”

Henry Quissa, a Makivik board member from Akulivik, said people in his community would like Grey and Tulugak “to be more visible in the communities.”

But Grey said the majority of delegates appeared to be up-to-date on the developments of the Nunavik regional government when she spoke to meeting.

“There was a lot of support around the table,” Grey said. “There’s always an opposing side to everything, but in the end, the referendum will decide our future.

“We’re not forcing anyway to say yes.”

Some opponents of the NRG would prefer to see an ethnic government, exclusively by and for Inuit.

But Grey believes that Makivik Corp. would continue to protect and promote the Inuit identity.

“This is the route we’ve taken, and I believe a public government is a strong way to promote our Inuit way of life,” she said. “If we want to govern Nunavik, we have to govern the people as a whole.”

The next negotiating session is scheduled to take place in Inukjuak, the community that has been most vocal in its opposition of the new government.

The idea behind this visit is to address any concerns about the future of the regional government, Grey said.

Related:

• Chart showing structure of proposed Nunavik Regional Government (PDF, 164 KB)

• Chart showing structure of proposed Nunavik Assembly (PDF, 188 KB)

• Agreement in principle on Nunavik regional government, signed 2007 (PDF, 816 KB)

This chart shows the likely structure of the proposed Nunavik Assembly: five executive members, including a leader, elected directly in Nunavik-wide elections, sitting with 15 or 16 locally-elected members, including one representative from the Naskapi Nation. You can download a larger version of this chart from the list of links that appear above this illustration.