Renewal agreement will help make Nunavut run by Inuit, for Inuit

If Inuit are going to run their public government for themselves and by themselves, Nunavut Sivuniksavut was a good place to start, literally and symbolically.

The Ottawa college, where Inuit students from Nunavut study between high school graduation and going to a southern college or university, was the setting March 8 for the renewal of the Nunavut Agreement, the 32-year-old deal that spells out Inuit rights in Nunavut.

Under the renewed deal, the federal government will provide $1.5 billion over 10 years to the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Inuit rights-holding organization. That’s on top of $77.6 million a year in ongoing funding.

Coverage of that historic moment — the first time the implementation contract has been renewed — is our front-page story in this week’s print edition.

Employment training and education were two key aspects of the deal. Nearly half of the renewal funding — $600 million — is to go toward Inuit employment and training.

Nunavut’s long-term goal is for Inuit to be proportionally represented in the territory’s workforce, especially in the public sector. If Inuit represent 85 per cent of the territory’s population, they should hold 85 per cent of the jobs.

That target has been hard to meet, particularly in professional jobs, because Inuit haven’t historically had the opportunity to get higher levels of education or to receive job-specific training.

NTI president Jeremy Tunraluk said 10,000 Inuit want to work in government and 89 per cent of them are young people. Calling the renewal “the most significant commitment ever made for training in government positions,” he predicted Inuit will start moving into government jobs “in large numbers.”

That’s why Nunavut Sivuniksavut was a fitting backdrop for the Nunavut Agreement renewal announcement.

A lot of Nunavut’s future political, business and community leaders will come through what’s affectionately known by its short form, N.S.

Indeed, Premier P.J. Akeeagok spoke about his own days there during the announcement.

While they’re away from their homes in the North, Nunavut Sivuniksavut’s students are frequently out in public in Ottawa, representing their territory in Canada’s capital. They performed at the announcement. They were on stage at February’s Aqsarniit Trade Show and Conference. And they perform every November at the International Inuit Day celebration in an Ottawa park, not far from the Rideau Street school.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the federal government-GN-NTI deal was being announced at Nunavut Sivuniksavut — late on a Saturday afternoon. But it made sense.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree acknowledged the renewal agreement came together at the last minute, leading to what appeared to be a hastily convened announcement, signing ceremony and news conference. The deal had only come together 48 hours earlier, he said.

It was enough to make you wonder if the renewal was something the Liberal government wanted to check off its list before party members picked a new leader on Sunday. There has been speculation new Liberal Leader Mark Carney might call a snap federal election even before Parliament resumes on March 24.

Dissolving Parliament and plunging Canadians into a spring election campaign would put an end to any government business the Liberals have on the go.

The timing of the renewal agreement guarantees the Liberals get that item off their to-do list … and will get to take credit for it whether the election is next month or in October.