Northern Affairs minister wraps 4-community tour in Iqaluit

Nearing the end of a weeklong visit to Nunavut, Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal is spending a couple days in Iqaluit to meet with local leaders and make two announcements — one about infrastructure funding and another on health.

After landing in Rankin Inlet on Monday, Vandal visited the literacy society and announced $1.6 million in funding to help Nunavut youth enter the workforce.

The territory’s premier, Joe Savikataaq, met Vandal in his next stop —Arviat — where he spent time learning from youth in the Aqqiumavvik Society’s Young Hunters Program and attended a net-making workshop at Ujjiqsuiniq Shop.

Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal visits the Aqqiumavvik Society’s Young Hunters program in Arviat earlier this week. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Cotter)

Vandal then flew to Pond Inlet for the day, where he met with the Nuluujaat Land Guardians, Tununiq MLA David Qamaniq, Pond Inlet Mayor Joshua Arreak and others.

Vandal sat down with Nunatsiaq News Thursday morning to talk about his meeting with the land guardians, what his job has been like during the pandemic, and how Inuit can feel confident the housing crisis will be addressed by the federal government.

NN: Where are you from and how did you get to the position you’re in now?

Vandal: I grew up in St. Boniface [Winnipeg] and I still live there with my family. I was first elected in ’95 as a [Winnipeg] city councillor and I represented St. Boniface until 2014 with the exception of about two-and-a-half years where I ran for mayor and came in second. I ran federally in 2015 and was fortunate enough to win.

This last election in 2019, I was appointed minister of northern affairs by [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] and it’s been quite an experience, given I was appointed about two months before the pandemic hit. 

NN: What has your job been like, not being able to travel and engage with communities in the North during the pandemic?

Vandal: I was really looking forward to meeting the people of the North and talking about the issues important to them — which I did to some degree, but I did it through Zoom and phone calls. It’s quite amazing, as a tool, but when you’re doing 16 months of Zoom [calls], you really long for the old days where you can actually visit a community and sit face-to-face with somebody — as I did yesterday.

NN: Since starting your position, what are you most proud of in terms of serving Inuit and Nunavummiut? 

Vandal: We’ve really put emphasis on developing positive relationships. The perspective we’re taking is nothing for the North without the North. There’s no more made-in-Ottawa solutions for the North — that doesn’t work. 

I think that was essential to the way we tackled the pandemic as well. We made sure we were working with [northern leadership] in providing the support they needed. 

We’ve also heard loud and clear the priorities and the [other] concerns of people who live here, and that’s infrastructure and housing, and we are responding.

NN: What has your government failed to deliver for Inuit?

Vandal: I’m sure there’s quite a few things, given the gaps are so large. The reality is there’s been underfunding in the North and in Inuit Nunangat for generations. 

The priority I hear most often is housing. There’s lots of room for improvement on the housing front, there’s lots of room for improvement on infrastructure and we’re committed to addressing that. 

NN: How can people feel confident the housing crisis will be addressed?

Vandal: First of all, understanding the gaps are very significant, they can’t be filled in one or two years and it’s going to take continual, long-term, significant funding to make a difference people will notice. 

We’ve signed a 10-year housing agreement with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, we have Canada’s largest National Housing Program in recent memory and $2.5 billion dollars of new money announced in this budget through CMHC and over $1 billion dollars of new money for rapid housing, that is going to benefit the North. 

We’re going to continue investing on a whole bunch of different fronts for a long time. That’s our commitment to the people who live here — we’re not going away.

NN: With Nunavut’s current MP [NDP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq] saying she experienced racism at work, and other Indigenous women like [former Liberal minister] Jodi Wilson-Raybould coming forward with similar experiences, how can the next government make sure Inuit women feel safe in that environment and will want to keep running and taking up space in politics?

Vandal: The reasons [Mumilaaq Qaqqaq] decided not to run are very concerning for me as an MP and as a father. I think [parties] have to make a better effort to really listen to the women who become elected, and be there to support them. I think we need young women in government. We need to make sure the concerns they have, when they get to Ottawa and are elected, are taken very seriously from the very beginning and not after something happens.

NN: How did your discussion with the Nuluujaat Land Guardians go?

Vandal: Really good. They shared their concerns with with me and I really stressed to them the importance of them going to the NIRB hearing once it regroups in November. They’ve done the technical roundtables thus far, but they need to [go to NIRB] and tell them what they told me because it’s powerful and it’s important. I also stressed to them no decision has been made. 

NN: What do you have planned for the rest of your time in Iqaluit aside from the two announcements?

Vandal: I’m having breakfast in about 10 minutes with a [NTI president] Aluki Kotierk, I’m making an announcement, then we’re going to visit the [Pirurvik Centre]. [Friday] we have another announcement mid-morning and breakfast with the premier and the cabinet in the morning and I’ll spend some time with the premier in the afternoon.