Iqaluit HTO to vote on rights assignment

Members of Iqaluit’s Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association will cast ballots on May 16 to decide on procedures for the assignment of Inuit hunting rights under the Nunavut land claim agreement.

Sytookie Joamie of the Amarok HTA says the meeting will be held inside the Anglican parish hall in Iqaluit at 7:00 p.m.

Only members will be allowed to vote, Joamie said. Non-members will not be admitted.

“There will be no non-members allowed in the meeting hall,” Joamie said.

He said that’s because members must make decisions that affect Inuit hunting rights.

“It’s a complex issue,” Joamie said. “You’re dealing with rights that have been identified in the Nunavut land claim agreement.”

A section in Article 5, Part 7, of the agreement allows an Inuk, a Regional Wildlife Organization, or a Hunters and Trappers Organization to assign the right to harvest to either another Inuk, a person who is the spouse of an Inuk or a person cohabiting as the spouse of an Inuk.

The section also contains words that make it possible for an Inuk, an RWO or an HTO to assign part or all of a total allowable harvest to a person who is not an Inuk.

An Inuk may assign the right to hunt for a period no greater than one year, while an RWO or an HTO may assign the right to hunt for a period no greater than three years.

The land claim agreement says it’s the function of local HTOs to handle the assignment of harvest levels to non-members.

Joamie says this is one of the few areas in the land claim’s implementation contract where the onus is on the local HTO.

He said members of the Iqaluit organization will vote in three separate ballots. The first vote is to decide the ballot process, he said, while the next two will let members choose between various options.

Many land claim beneficiaries in Iqaluit fear that rights-assignment is causing Inuit hunting rights to be given away too freely, to the wrong kinds of people.

Other beneficiaries say the practice gives non-Inuit spouses the ability to provide food for their families.