Provincial candidates support Nunavik riding

ODILE NELSON

Nunavik will get its own provincial electoral district – if whoever wins the Ungava riding in the April 14 Quebec provincial election honours their pre-election commitments.

All three candidates, who would represent Nunavik as part of the larger Ungava riding if elected, said during the months leading up to next Monday’s vote they and their parties would support a separate electoral district for Arctic Quebec.

Donald Bubar, the Liberal candidate for Ungava, said Nunavik is too vast and unique to be lumped in with southern interests.

“Definitely. I support it and that is the position a Liberal government [would have]. We would have no problems with that whatsoever,” Bubar said.

Political leaders in Nunavik have spent years pushing for a Nunavik riding. They argue the region’s 10,000 Inuit are not truly represented in the Quebec National Assembly because the majority of the Ungava riding’s voters live in the South.

But the Quebec electoral boundary commission, an independent body that divides the province’s ridings according to population distribution, has yet to agree.

In order to create a separate riding for Nunavik, the commission must make an exception to its electoral boundary rules. In the past, it has ruled that Nunavik’s population is too small and the surface area too large for its own riding.

But in November, Premier Bernard Landry and Michel Létourneau, the Parti Quebecois MP for Ungava, lent public support to a Nunavik seat in the national assembly.

“We’ve recognized the Inuit as a nation since 1985. But since we manage a substantial part of the territory of Quebec together, it’s reasonable that they should be represented in our assembly. It’s an idea we support completely,” Landry said at the time.

Létourneau could not be reached to reaffirm this commitment or his election platform before Nunatsiaq News’ press-time.

But in the run up to this Monday’s election, both Bubar and Gloria Trudeau, the Action démocratique du Québec candidate, said they support the idea.

“If the governments agree amongst themselves and if this is what the Inuit want, I don’t see there being any problem,” Trudeau said. “I’ve no problem with it and I’m sure we would support it.”

While all three candidates have turned to Nunavik’s public radio to campaign in the region, only Létourneau visited Nunavik in the weeks before the election. Both Burbar and Trudeau said limited travel budgets prevented campaigning in person.

This, Bubar said, only highlights the need for a separate riding.

“Nunavik needs its own member of parliament,” Bubar said. “This region is so vast it’s virtually impossible for one person to cover it effectively.”

Bubar, a resident of Chibougamau, Qué., since 1955, has served as mayor of the town since 1999.

He said if the province elects a Liberal government, it would honour the new-government agreement Nunavimmiut have negotiated but not signed with the Parti Quebecois and the federal government.

“We would continue with what’s on the table. One of our members of parliament, Jeoff Kelley, is very versed in the agreement. He’s been in close contact with the region’s leaders and the information I’ve had from Jeoff, I fully support what is being negotiated,” Bubar said.

Bubar also said he believes a Liberal government would favour more legislative powers for any new regional government at future negotiation talks.

However, he said he was uncomfortable suggesting concrete programs for Nunavik.

“I feel very insecure saying ‘We should do this, we should do that for you.’ But I can assure you, myself as a member of parliament and a Liberal government would work very openly with the Inuit leadership and communities to ensure the necessary programs are put in place.”

For his part, Trudeau said he aims to help the region develop economically and socially.

“We have many ideas. What we must first do in the North of Quebec is to entice companies to come up to the North. In the tourism sector, we must also find ways to encourage Europeans and Americans to visit the region because it has a lot to offer,” he said. “In regards education, we have to ensure adult training programs continue because the high school dropout rate is very high.”

He said if the ADQ came into power, it would reassess the new-government framework agreement before giving its full endorsement.