Pauktuutit gets a seat at the table

DENISE RIDEOUT

The national Inuit women’s association caught the eye of Canada’s aboriginal leaders and government ministers last week during a national meeting in Iqaluit.

Pauktuutit, which represents Inuit women across Canada, got the recognition it’s been after for years. It is now part of a national forum on aboriginal issues.

The association took part in a federal-provincial-territorial meeting of aboriginal affairs ministers and leaders of Canada’s five national aboriginal associations in Iqaluit on Nov 15. Each year, the group gets together to discuss the role of aboriginals in the economy and improving the situation for aboriginal youth.

Until now, only the country’s five aboriginal organizations — Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Congress of Aboriginal People, Metis National Council, Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women’s Association of Canada — have been allowed to sit at the discussion table.

After three years of pleading, the Inuit women’s association is now part of the group.

It’s a big accomplishment for Veronica Dewar, Pauktuutit’s president. “We’ve been sort of tagging along behind and not really being able to fully participate at these kinds of meetings before,” Dewar said in an interview.

“I’ve been attending these meetings and we’ve had a commitment and a push to be with the other national organizations, we call them the ‘fabulous five.’ And now we are the sixth.”

Dewar said Pauktuutit can now contribute to discussions with the government and aboriginal leaders about trying to help aboriginal women become a larger part of the economy.

In the past, Pauktuutit leaders just sat on the sidelines while the other aboriginal organizations talked about issues concerning Pauktuutit’s main focus: Inuit women.

Following the Iqaluit meeting, Robert Nault, the federal minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, announced Pauktuutit would be the newest member of the federal-territorial-provincial association on aboriginal affairs.

“We’re including them and that’s a step in the right direction because they have some unique representation and issues to bring forward on behalf of Inuit women,” Nault said during a press conference.

A big item on the meeting’s agenda was helping aboriginal women participate in the country’s economy.

One outcome of those discussions is the plan to create an aboriginal women’s business planning guide. Federal officials say it will give women a step-by-step guide on the basics of launching a business.

The federal-territorial-provincial association will also put together a resource guide that will list employment and entrepreneurship programs available to aboriginal women.

Dewar said Inuit women can use all the help they can to get into the business sector. Too often there are barriers, she said.

“We’ve been trying to get some Inuit women together to talk about the issues they face in getting into the economy,” Dewar said. “I know the big factor is that a lot of them can’t get a loan through the banks for a business because they have no equity and they don’t know how to go about it.”

Aboriginal business people will get a chance to show off their products and services at a national business summit, to be held Feb. 19 and 20 in Toronto.

“What we’ll be doing is inviting the private sector and corporations from all over Canada to come and to work with aboriginal people to help develop that economy,” Nault said.

In addition to business guides and a business summit, Nault said there will be much more focus on using education as a tool to improve the role of aboriginals in the economy.

Nault didn’t provide details on how the federal government plans to tackle this.

“We need to improve the educational attainment of aboriginal people if we’re going to build an economy,” he said. “Now, we want to use education as that driver because in the long term you can’t create an economy for aboriginal people or Canadians in general if they’re not educated.”

“So that’s the broad strokes of our discussions here. Will it make a difference tomorrow? No, I don’t think so,” Nault said.

“I think there’s an understanding that we’re going to work together as ministers and leaders to make a difference in the short, medium and long term.”

The next meeting of aboriginal affairs ministers and leaders of aboriginal groups is planned for fall 2003.