NTI will work with NWMB on polar bear spear-hunt

DENISE RIDEOUT

IQALUIT — Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. won’t pursue its legal battle over an Inuk man’s right to kill a polar bear with a spear.

Questions about NTI’s next plan of attack surfaced in recent weeks after Inuk hunter Noah Kadlak was refused permission by the GN to conduct a traditional polar bear hunt. Sustainable Development Minister Olayuk Akesuk banned the hunt, saying it posed a threat to public safety.

NTI doesn’t want to drag this case through the courts again.

NTI and Noah Kadlak took the issue to court last November, where they argued that the government’s refusal was a violation of Kadlak’s hunting rights.

NTI won that claim in January, but Minister Akesuk continued to vehemently oppose the hunt.

Paul Quassa, the president of NTI, said the organization figures another legal battle would take too long.

Now NTI has a new route of action: it’s turning to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board for help.

“As we see it, it’s now in the hands of the NWMB,” Quassa said.

NTI plans to ask the board to put conditions on the hunt that will satisfy the minister’s concerns about safety.

At an NTI meeting last week in Arctic Bay, the board of directors voted to ask the wildlife management board to consult them, along with Sustainable Development and elders, about what conditions would best limit the risks of the hunt.

Quassa said the hope is that with enough safety conditions in place, Akesuk will have no reason to fear for public safety and will give the hunt the green light.

“We could see the minister changing his decision once those [safety] factors are met,” Quassa said.

The Sustainable Development minister banned the hunt on Feb. 7 because he said he feared it threatened public safety.

This came about even after the NWMB had attached safety conditions to the hunt, such as requiring Kadlak to be accompanied by a hunter bearing a firearm.

Akesuk said in making his decision, he had considered Kadlak’s hunting experience, the experience of the dog team, and the hazards of hunting with a spear — but he wasn’t convinced that public safety would be protected.

NTI maintains that the minister cannot ban a hunt simply because it’s risky.

“Hunting is always risky and we accept that. But it seems that to a certain extent this government doesn’t want to take any risks,” Quassa said. “But this is part of our lives.”

NTI has said that safety was never the real reason behind banning the hunt. Quassa said he suspects Akesuk didn’t like the idea that a documentary crew from Toronto had planned to film the authentic hunt.

Quassa said the Nunavut government is likely worried the film, depicting the killing of a polar bear, will bring negative publicity to the territory.

But Quassa said he believes the film will help capture an important Inuit tradition. In his NTI office, Quassa proudly displays a large carving of an Inuk hunter poised to attack a polar bear with a spear.

Approval for the hunt?

Quassa figures that Kadlak’s experience, combined with any new safety conditions that the NWMB would attach to the hunt, will convince the minister to allow the hunt to go ahead.

He’s even hopeful that Kadlak will get approval in time for the next hunting season.

There’s no indication yet whether the wildlife management board will agree to hold the consultations.

However, Quassa said he thinks the NWMB will be receptive, especially since it had originally agreed to Kadlak’s proposal back in 1998.

As for Olayuk Akesuk, he’s so far sticking to his decision. In the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 23, the minister said he had sent letters to all the MLAs outlining his reasons for banning the hunt.

He did point out that the government is working with the NWMB and NTI to create a new wildlife act for Nunavut — one that could possibly include traditional methods of hunting.