Kiviaq’s lonely quest

In 2003, Statistics Canada released numbers showing that more than 10 per cent of Canada’s Inuit people now live outside the Arctic.

Ten per cent may not sound like a lot of people.

But it concrete terms, it now means that about 5,000 Inuit reside in southern Canada at any given time, outside of Canada’s four Inuit land claim settlement areas – and outside of those areas where they’re able to exercise the rights and benefits set out in their land claim agreements.

Census takers – who did the count in 2001 – found that about 1,380 Inuit live in the province of Ontario, while at least 3,145 Inuit are scattered throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Look at a map of Canada and point a finger at any spot – chances are Inuit now live there: in small southern towns and cities such as Abbotsford, B.C. and Leamington, Ont., and in large centres such as Yellowknife, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Vancouver.

These numbers are still small, but they’re growing. As the quality of life continues to deteriorate in the Arctic, it’s reasonable to assume that more Inuit will head south in search of better housing, health care, education and jobs.

But when they get there, many Inuit get a rude surprise. They discover that, when compared to status and treaty Indians, their aboriginal “rights” don’t count for much.

They discover that, as far as Ottawa is concerned, they lose their Inuit identity as soon as they leave home. Though they’re subject to the same forms of stereotyping and racism faced by other aboriginal peoples, they can rarely claim the same rights and benefits. In the provision of government services, Inuit in southern Canada are usually treated as if they were non-aboriginal people.

Everyone knows the stories: The woman in Ottawa who resides outside of Nunavut for more than a year and discovers she doesn’t qualify for Nunavut’s student financial assistance program. The man in Vancouver who must pay the full price for the expensive prescription drugs that his Inuit kids need to survive, unable to persuade the pharmacist that his kids are covered by the NIHB – and so on.

These experiences reveal a serious flaw within the four land claim agreements that Canadian Inuit have negotiated with the federal government. That flaw is that, for the most part, beneficiaries may only gain access to the rights and entitlements set out in those agreements if they reside within their land claim settlement area.

The federal government, the Supreme Court of Canada has found, bears what lawyers call a “fiduciary” responsibility for aboriginal people – a duty of care. What this fiduciary responsibility consists of is a subject of much dispute, but it is commonly understood as including free health care, free post-secondary education, and, perhaps, forms of low-cost social housing.

Aside from the paternalism that is inherent in the concept, and which is an important, but entirely separate discussion, this fiduciary responsibility is now recognized in law. And for treaty and status Indians, it’s more or less defined. That’s why status Indians can get free prescription drugs and post-secondary schooling right across the country.

But not Inuit. Kiviaq, who in 1936 was born in Chesterfield Inlet but grew up in Edmonton, has been pointing that out for nearly 20 years. The issue lies at the heart of the lawsuit that Kiviaq’s lawyer, Terry Glancy, recently filed with the Federal Court of Canada in Edmonton.

Kiviaq’s complaints have not only been ignored by the federal government, but also by Canada’s official Inuit organizations, who have been slow to acknowledge the needs of Inuit living in southern Canada. The only exception is Nunavut’s premier, Paul Okalik, who is at least offering moral support.

But neither Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, nor Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., nor the Makivik Corp. have offered Kiviaq any help in his lonely quest for Inuit rights. Perhaps it’s because their leaders still have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that large numbers of Inuit want, or need, to live in southern Canada and at the same time retain their Inuit identity.

But as the guardians of Inuit rights, its astonishing that they still don’t have any coherent position on the issues that Kiviaq is raising. Now that Kiviaq’s case is before the courts, it would be shameful if they did not at least join as intervenors. JB