Nunavut needs only slight adjustment

I have lived in the Arctic for the past 30 years. The last 20 years have been spent here in Pangnirtung. Is Nunavut or Pangnirtung racist? Absolutely not.

Now and then somebody will leave a gob of spit on the window of a vehicle, or write some meaningless message about white people going back to where they come from. Is this a sign of latent racism? Of course not. It is the sign of an idiot, who you will encounter in any society, anywhere.

As for the government of Nunavut, in my opinion it is doing just fine in its fledging leaders. Allow me to give you a comparison. Ireland, where I was born, became a nation in 1949, the same year when I was born.

At that time, the criers and critics from both sides of the ocean and the North of Ireland predicted nothing but utter failure for a bunch of illiterate bog-men with no experience in world affairs, or self-government, who could barely speak the Queen’s English. Then, as today, all subjects were taught in Gaelic, except English. It is interesting to note that the Ireland of today some 60 years later is the fastest growing economy in Europe and is a global nation.

Are GN personnel going to make some errors in the development of this new land? Of course they are. It is a learning process and I hope they’re wise enough to step back and evaluate and make adjustments to bring Nunavut forward to its legitimate place in Canada.

Back to Ireland again: there are Africans, Asians, Europeans and Americans living and doing business together. Has the Irish culture declined in any way? No, on the contrary, it is stronger than ever, with more youth and adults speaking the Gaelic language. Language is the basis of any culture.

The GN could do an awful lot worse than to come out to the communities and talk to men and women like me who have chosen to live and love here, down through the years, raising our children and hoping for a better day for all. We’re not a bunch of misfits with nowhere else to go. We came here and saw the beauty and chose to stay within a beautiful boundary. Each community has people like us.

Nunavut should be careful that it does not build a wall of exclusion around itself, walls prevent growth. Open this and embrace a means to build a culture. Culture is not only realized by looking back to yesterday years, culture is living in the moment of today, while looking to the future with inclusion and excitement, and expectations of a better tomorrow.

Discussions of exclusion, even if whispered, are not productive and do not enhance our whole society. Emphasis on the openness of society should be a constant ongoing reference point, spoken about often.

So now I turn my eyes to our premier. You are now half-way into your second mandate. It’s your destiny. I hope to see you seek a third mandate. I wish to see you become an icon to the new and emerging nations of the world, who in turn will use the Nunavut model as a base structure for their own development.

I want you to become the Ghandi and Mandella of this new land. I want you to encourage each of us through your proven leadership and compassion to become an Inuit nation of tolerance and most importantly kindness, where we live and work together as one people. Many Inuit people have taught me kindness over the years.

I made a big mistake myself many years ago, which I deeply regret to this day. It is the forgiveness of people that has allowed me to go on rebuilding my life.

No doubt you have many advisers from the southern world around you, filled with good intentions and credentials but lacking in the experience of Nunavummiut, who have no axes to grind, but have vast experience to give and share.

I want to see Premier Okalik exit the political stage many years from now, being remembered as a visionary, a catalyst, and a great humanitarian leader. Nunavut is so close to being right. A slight adjustment to the stated overall mandate and political vision of Nunavut will make the editorial of Nov. 5, 2004 inconsequential and not the only voice of the people.

I would like to read an editorial on the successes of Nunavut. My daughter Siobhan will graduate as a lawyer from the Nunavut law program in six months. Many other youths are joining the RCMP, the nursing program and education programs along with vocational training. I encourage the youth to graduate and become fully functional contributing citizens of this great land of opportunity.

In my closing opinion, the state of the territory is solid, sound and in good hands. Looking back on my 30 years, I would not wish to be anywhere else in the world, but Nunavut.

Michael Murphy
Pangnirtung