Mulroney’s role in Nunavut Agreement ‘changed the map,’ northern leaders say
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s state funeral to take place Saturday in Montreal
Paul Quassa, right, then president of Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, and former prime minister Brian Mulroney look at a map in this photo taken in 1993 on the day the Nunavut Agreement was signed. (File photo courtesy of NTI)
Ahead of the state funeral for former prime minister Brian Mulroney, some leaders remember him for the role he played in making the Nunavut Agreement a reality.
Mulroney, whose Progressive Conservative party governed Canada for nine years starting in 1984, died Feb. 29 at age 84.
Signing the Nunavut Agreement in May 1993 was one of the last big moves he made before stepping down as party leader a month later.
Paul Quassa – who was president of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (now Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.) when the 1993 Nunavut Agreement was signed – said Mulroney approached negotiations with an “understanding” and “flexible” approach.
An example of that was the inclusion of bowhead whale hunting rights in the agreement.
“Under that leadership – Mulroney’s leadership – we got the largest land claims agreement in Canada,” Quassa said in an interview.
“We changed the map of Canada.”
Tom Siddon, Mulroney’s minister for what was then called the department of Indian affairs and northern development, said he’s been reflecting on the Nunavut Agreement as a part of Mulroney’s legacy that’s overshadowed by his other accomplishments.
Discussions of that legacy have focused on several key events, including the end of the Cold War, free trade negotiations, the introduction of the goods and services tax, and his staunch position against South African Apartheid rule.
But May 25, 1993, was a “memory for life,” Siddon said, when Mulroney visited Iqaluit to sign the Nunavut Agreement.
“Brian’s mandate to me three years earlier, in 1990, was to conclude those land claims agreements, and the self-government agreements to the extent possible all the way across Canada, and that Nunavut was number one on his list of concluding those agreements,” he said in an interview.
“I think the most important contribution he made in terms of my ministry and my responsibilities was to say yes to the establishment of Nunavut.”
Siddon said he’ll be attending the state funeral.
Dennis Patterson, Nunavut’s recently retired senator and former Northwest Territories premier, said Mulroney played a “pivotal” role in redefining Canada.
However, Patterson is also reflecting on Mulroney’s personal qualities.
“If someone was sick or someone lost a family member, Brian was on the phone,” Patterson said.
“What he meant to me was a guy who really cared about people.”
Over the past week, politicians and members of the public gathered to pay their respects to the former prime minister in Ottawa and Montreal.
Mulroney’s state funeral is set to take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.
Dignitaries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok are expected to be among the attendees.
Akeeagok said in a statement that Mulroney “made a lasting impression on our territory’s trajectory towards greater independence.”
Simon said in a statement that Mulroney’s “vision for Canada, particularly for the Arctic, was inspiring.”
While Mulroney was prime minister, Simon took part in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She attended his lying in state this past week.
Quassa and Patterson said they plan to watch the national TV broadcast of the funeral from home.
“I think a lot of us will [watch the funeral] because of what he has done for Inuit in Nunavut and his legacy will continue,” Quassa said.
“Inuit are so grateful for his openness in recognizing that yes, Inuit can run their own affairs.”
He did have faults, so do we all.
But Mr Mulroney carried himself with grace and had respect for everyone.
Mr Trudeau can learn a few things
I hope Mr Poilièvre listened carefully and took some notes on what makes a great politician and most importantly, a great human being respected by all.
I say this as a center right voter. Poilièvre is not capable of changing himself at this point in the game, he is a troll and that is the kind of Prime Minister we will get.
The Conservatives helped make Nunavut happen! Now the majority think they are the enemy!
I am wondering what the Liberals or NDP have done for Nunavut?
If you look the conservatives don’t make empty promises that they can’t fulfill but that is the Lib/Dem rulebook. It takes critical thinking to realize that the Libs/Dems have barely done anything they’ve said they would amd have made life much worst for all canadians .
Can’t wait for Conservatives to be in power again this Lib/Dems coalition has gone on long enuff
Who are the Lib/Dems?
.
This is Canada, not the UK. There is no Lib/Dem party in our country.
.
Sounds like you’re pretty confused… either you are mixing up the UK with Canada, or your brain is a bit too fixated on the United States for some reason. Either way, it makes it sound like you don’t know what’s going on.
You say, “Conservatives dont make empty promises”, but Nunavummiut are still waiting on the hydroelectric dam in Iqaluit, and the ‘power line and a road connecting the Kivalliq with Manitoba’, not to mention tacking on another decade to the Iqlauit Deep Sea Port project that Leonna Aglukkaq and the Conservatives promised us back in the late 2000s.
The current “con”servative party is the mini Trump wannabe party. The current government has a real blind spot for a carbon tax. I can pay a few more dollars for the time being instead of having to live with a snake oil salesman everyday.
The NAFTA and its revised version in many’s analysis was/is a sell out to the corporate world. The proof likely is the growing divide between the ultra wealthy and us, and the working class’s struggle to survive as Wall/Bay Streets are a Mecca for that ultra wealthy class. Look no farther than the BlackRock Company (worth 121 B +) and its CEO Larry Fink (worth 1 B with an annual income of 140+ M). Condolences to friends and family nonetheless.
Would’ve been awesome if John Amagoalik, (John A.), Tagak Curley, Peter Ittinuaq and Zebedee Ningaq attended.
They were there and began….💖
Nunavut.
That was very unacceptable to see those prominent men not invited and Premier Akeeagok never took it himself but puts the blame on his staff. Watching all those clowns jumping up and down on the stage and even seeing some hugs and tearing was flabbergasted to say the least. Young inexperienced leader wanted to take all the credit and ensured photographers capture every moment. Thanks for all your hard work Amagoalik, Tagak, Nungaq, Ittinuaq! You will never be forgotten!