Nunavut’s October throne speech: Poetry, dreams, but few specifics

The Nunavut government’s five-year plan contains few specific responses to Nunavut’s pressing social and political issues.

By JIM BELL

IQALUIT — Commissioner Helen Maksagak’s Oct. 20 speech from the throne contains a tough message wrapped in a sugar-coated cover: individuals and groups, not the Nunavut government, are responsible for Nunavut’s well-being.

“Our government believes that as individuals we are responsible for our own lives, and through our own lives, and through our own efforts and activities we can provide for the needs of our families and communities,” Maksagak said.

Dressed in a simple blue calico dress, Maksagak sat in the legislative assembly’s elaborately carved wooden throne to make the first throne speech to be delivered from within the assembly’s new building in Iqaluit.

On the previous day, Oct. 19, MLAs and a variety of invited guests marked the opening of Nunavut’s legislature with the cutting of a ceremonial seal skin.

In the Westminster parliamentary tradition, throne speeches are traditionally written by government officials to reflect the government’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session, and then handed to a vice-regal representative to read in the house.

Most of the content in Maksagak’s speech comes from the Nunavut governments “Bathurst Mandate,” the Nunavut government’s pinasuaqtavut, or “that which we’ve set out to do.”

The much-anticipated Bathurst Mandate is an eight-page document that sets out what Maksagak called a “detailed five-year action plan.” The document — tabled Oct. 21 in the assembly — also contains a rosy vision of what Nunavut will look like in 2020.

It’s the result of a long series of cabinet and full caucus retreats held over the past six months since last April in Kimmirut, Iqaluit, Baker Lake and Bathurst Inlet.

“The Bathurst Mandate has been truly developed in the spirit of consensus,” Maksagak said. “It is a demonstration of the unity of spirit in Nunavut, that so many elements could be drawn together in a comprehensive and realistic statement of goals and dreams.”

Maksagak’s speech is sprinkled with poetic descriptions of the locations where MLAs and cabinet members met to work on their five-year plan.

“During the four days of the cabinet retreat, the colours of the land were beginning to turn, the char were running and the berries were waiting to be picked,” Maksagak said of the Nunavut cabinet’s four-day junket at the Bathurst Inlet Lodge last August, where they approved the final version of the Bathurst Mandate.

The contents of the Bathurst are organized under four main premises. They are:

Inuuqatigiittiarniq — the healthy interconnection of mind, body, spirit and environment;
Pijarnirniqsat katujjiqatigiinnirlu — simplicity and unity;
Namminiq makitajunnarniq — self-reliance;
Ilippallianginnarniq — continuing learning.
The throne speech and the Bathurst Mandate contain little or no references to such pressing issues as decentralization, the status of Nunavut’s three proposed new hospitals, or Nunavut’s nearly-bankrupt health and social services system.

Each of the four sections do contain statements of principles, optimistic vision statements for the year 2020, and carefully worded objectives for the next five years.

Inuuqatigiittiarniq

But from the very beginning of the document, it’s clear that the Nunavut government will play a reduced role in the lives of citizens.

“People are responsible and accountable for their own well-being,” states one of the principles listed within the Inuuqatigiittiarniq section.

And in its vision statement for the year 2020, the document states that in 20 years, “Health and social conditions and indicators are at or better than the Canadian average.”

However, in its list of objectives for the next five years, the Nunavut government has little to say about how this will be achieved.

The document states that the government will “recruit, train, and retain health and social services staff at full capacity in all communities and facilities,” but says nothing about the financial shortfalls that have Nunavut’s health care system teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The document also states that the government of Nunavut will help communities develop “capacity plans,” and “wellness plans.” As well, the government will create a community-based economic strategy for Nunavut.

As for housing, the Bathurst Mandate contains no specific proposals for building more social housing in Nunavut, but does say that the government will “open and maintain a public dialogue on housing issues, while developing and implementing immediate and long-term plans to respond to housing shortfalls as one of the two primary commitments of this government’s mandate.”

In Maksagak’s speech, the only statement on the housing issue is a reference to Housing Minister Manitok Thompson’s previously announced housing task force.

The document is nearly silent on the issue of justice system reform, except to say that the government will “evaluate spending on courts and corrections, evaluate alternative program options and put iin place long-term plans.”

Lastly, the document promises the creation of a volunteer strategy for Nunavut.

Pijarnirniqaqsat katujjiqatigiinnirlu

The Pijarnirniqaqsat katujjiqatigiinnirlu section — simplicity and unity — contains a variety of statements and objectives expressing the Nunavut government’s commitment to the idea of creating a simple, open, accountable and more efficient government in which all residents may easily participate.

In it, the government promises a new Nunavut business development policy to conform with Article 24 of the Nunavut land claim agreement, and a protocol agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik.

Namminiq makitajunnarniq

The Namminiq makitajunnarniq section — self-reliance — repeats the idea that individuals are responsible for their own lives, and for providing for the needs of their families and communities.

In it, the government promises a review of Nunavut’s welfare system, leading to the creation of revised income support program that contains “incentives for individuals and families to achieve self-reliance”

The section also repeats the government of Nunavut’s desire for more money from Ottawa to develop infrastructure in Nunavut, and re-states the government of Nunavut’s plans to negotiate a resource revenue sharing agreement with Ottawa.

Ilippallianginnarniq

In the last section, Ilippallianginnarniq, or “continuing learning,” the government states that “we all need to listen closely and learn well in order to acquire the skills we need to increase our independence and prosperity.”

The Nunavut government says that it will engage in a government-wide effort to support training and learning within Nunavut’s work force, and that “every element in the government’s budget will be viewed as a potential training budget.”

The government promises to re-write the kindergarten to Grade 12 school curriculum, train more nurses and teacher, graduate more students, and teach more Inuktitut in all its forms.

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