NTI makes NTCL an Inuit firm, refines Article 24 policy
The Northern Transportation Company is now an official “Inuit firm,” as NTI’s board refines its implementation of Article 24.
DWANE WILKIN
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT — Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. board members have taken steps to bolster Inuit-employment provisions of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
The Inuit birthright corporation granted requests by Nunasi Corp. and Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL) to have the NWT-based based shipping firm declared an Inuit-owned firm, even though just 50 per cent of the company’s shares are held by beneficiaries of the Nunavut land claim.
The other 50 per cent of NTCL is owned by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which represents beneficiaries of the Inuvialuit agreement, signed in 1984 between the federal government and the Inuvialuit Inuit of the Beaufort Sea region in the western NWT.
Normally, under section Section 24.1.1 of the Nunavut agreement, an Inuit firm is defined as one in which at least 51 per cent of the voting shares are held by Inuit beneficiaries.
Board members agreed to make an exception for the NTCL shipping company because NTCL provides a “vital service to Inuit in Nunavut and is an important part of the family of corporations” owned by Inuit birthright development corporations.
Article 24 of the land claims agreement requires that all procurement polices in Nunavut be designed to boost participation of Inuit and Inuit firms in the territorial economy.
NTI board members meeting in Cambridge Bay last week also voted to push for changes to current government contracting rules to permit Inuit-owned firms in small communities to negotiate contracts directly with the GNWT.
And NTI has endorsed the pursuit of a negotiated contract between three regional birthright corporations, regional health boards and the GNWT to build, manage and finance new medical facilites in Nunavut, even though such a contract violates those same rules.
In each case, NTI said Inuit employment goals set forth in Article 24 of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement should take precedence over other considerations when it comes to public procurement policy.
In its resolution on health care facilities, NTI’s directors said they believe a negotiated contract “would best achieve the objectives of Article 24 set forth in s. 24.3.6.”
The board also voted to demand that the GNWT obtain NTI’s approval for any future negotiated government contracts that deviate from official contracting procedures, before negotiations begin.
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