Nunavik’s offshore deal: highlights

ODILE NELSON

KUUJJUAQ — After nearly a decade of negotiations, Makivik Corporation and the federal government signed an agreement-in-principle for Nunavik’s offshore claim two weeks ago in Montreal.

The agreement establishes the constitutional right of Nunavimmiut to manage the resources and economic development of their traditional harvesting region off the shores of Northern Quebec — a region not addressed in the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement.

Makivik initially asked the federal government for a reported $500 million in compensation, and numerous programs, including facilities for historical research, a Nunavik Inuit youth and cultural support program, and an income security program that would allow Nunavimmiut to harvest on a full-time basis.

Here is a brief summary of what Makivik and the federal government signed.

• Nunavik’s marine region will encircle Northern Quebec’s coast. The proposed area begins in the waters off Chisasibi and extends upward along Hudson Bay’s eastern waters until it reaches its northernmost point, just beyond Salisbury Island. It then returns southward, its border dividing the Hudson Strait roughly halfway between Baffin Island and Quebec, until it ends on the eastern side of the Button Islands near the Labrador Sea:

• The federal government will pay $50 million in capital transfer payments to Makivik, on behalf of Nunavimmiut, over several years;

• Nunavimmiut will have surface and subsurface rights to 80 per cent of the region’s islands;

• Makivik and the federal government will share in the marine region’s revenues;

• A Nunavik-led wildlife board will be created and it will become the “main institution of wildlife management in the Nunavik Marine Region.”

• The wildlife board will establish the total allowable take and basic needs levels for all wildlife (except anadromous fish), trophy fees, the designation of endangered species, boundaries for protected areas not including national parks, and the promotion of research in the region.

• The federal government will give the wildlife board $5 million to help its research activities.

• The government however will continue to hold the “ultimate responsibility for wildlife management” in the region. The federal government must still approve any decision regarding the total allowable take or basic needs levels made by the wildlife board.

• The agreement constitutionally guarantees Nunavimmiut a percentage of turbot catches in some areas outside the Nunavik Marine Region. Nunavik’s Inuit will be entitled to four per cent of the total allowable turbot catch in the Southern Davis Strait Zone when the catch is less than 5,500 metric tonnes and 10 per cent when the catch is greater than 5,500 tonnes.

• Nunavimmiut are also guaranteed seven per cent of any increase in the total allowable shrimp catch (established the year the final agreement is signed) in the Southern Davis Strait Zone and 8.8 per cent in the Northern Davis Strait Zone.

• Nunavik Inuit will have the chance to establish and operate any new commercial operations in the marine region before other outside organizations. This provision, however, does not apply to businesses involved in “non-consumptive” uses of wildlife, recreational fishing or the marketing and processing of wildlife parts or products in the region.

• The federal government may continue to issue existing commercial fishing licenses to “whomever the minister chooses.”

• Each Nunavik community will have its own local wildlife organization or LNUK, local “nunavimmi umajutvijiit katajuaqatigninga,” which consult with a regional RNUK. The RNUK will be made up of members from each Nunavik community and will advise the wildlife board on the concerns of the LNUKs. The RNUK is also responsible for regulation and monitoring of harvesting practices among LNUKs.

• A Nunavik Marine Region Planning Commission will develop land use planning in the region Cleaning up hazardous and non-hazardous waste sites will be its responsibility.

• The agreement also creates a Nunavik Marine Region Impact Review Board to study the effects development has on the region.

• The federal government must consult with Nunavimmiut when embarking on an international agreement that could impact the Nunavik Marine Region.

• Nunavik’s still unsettled claim to some portions of Labrador will be dealt with at a later date.

• The agreement-in-principle states the federal government and Makivik should sign the final agreement within a year.