Reply to Sam Touche

JOHN AMAGOALIK

I was tempted to allow Sam Touche and his foray into the separatist debate pass. But when someone challenges me in hockey terms, the adrenaline starts to flow and I must jump over the boards.

First of all, this little corner is not throwing stones at anyone, let alone Quebecers. I was born in Nunavik. I have a brother and members of our extended families living there. My parents and brothers are buried there. It is my ancestral homeland.

I challenge the separatists, not Quebecers. Separatists do not represent the majority, as has been proven in two referendums. If a real and clear question was asked of the voters, the separatists would fare even worse.

By challenging the separatists, we are attempting to balance the debate. The separatists want to have exclusive monopoly on the subject of independence for Quebec. They try their best to ignore, and hope no one will notice, the aboriginal peoples of Quebec. This is a classic example of the separatists behaving like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that the aspirations of Quebec separatists is comparable to the aspirations of aboriginal peoples. This is like calling an apple a banana. The history of the two are just not the same. We are not just another “minority.” We did not immigrate to this place. We are the third partner necessary to complete the circle of confederation. There is also a very basic difference between the two. Aboriginal peoples are trying to make Canada a better country by influencing its national life. The separatists are trying to break it up.

I invite Monsieur Touche to study how Quebec has behaved from its birth, through 1912 (Boundaries Extension Act), and to the present. I also recommend that he study a court case which took place around 1937 and became known as Re: Eskimo. I also ask where Quebec was when Inuit from Nunavik were exiled to the High Arctic by the federal government in 1953. History will also reveal that Quebec only became interested in Nunavik when Robert Bourassa saw hydro dollars dancing in his head.

As for the money from Quebec which Monsieur Touche seems to think we are worried about, let me assure him that we are not losing sleep over it. Quebec’s share of the money needed to run Nunavut, when equalization payments are averaged out, is probably a lot less than people think. Quebec, like Nunavut, is a net gainer from equalization payments.

Most of the money needed to run Nunavut comes from British Columbia and Ontario. But we are not interested in debating where the money comes from. This is our country and this is our money. We make no apologies for taking our rightful share.

As this corner has written in the past, the English and French colonizers of Canada took the homelands of aboriginal peoples and create a new country. It has taken us more than a hundred years to finally start finding our rightful place in Canadian society. When this is finally starting to happen, the separatists want to repeat the same mistake. They again, want to take our ancestral homelands and create a new country. Sorry, but we are not about to let history repeat itself.

I hope Monsieur Touche is not offended. That’s another thing that the separatists are good at. They get humiliated at the drop of a hat.

I think there is consensus that Sam Touche belongs in the minors.