Université Laval to host Nunavut blab-fest

IQALUIT — On March 10-11, a who’s-who of Nunavut’s movers and shakers have been invited to attend a conference at in Quebec City.

Called “Nunavut Conference 2000”, the two-day conference is intended to be a “unique forum,” where Nunavut’s politicians and bureaucrats can rub shoulders with academics and students and discuss such subjects as employment training, decentralization, economic development, and the role of Inuit language and culture in Nunavut.

The list of invited speakers includes current and former political leaders John Amagoalik, Jack Anawak, Goo Arlooktoo, Eva Arreak, Tagak Curley, John Hickes, Peter Irniq, Joe Kunuk, Carmen Levi and Dennis Patterson.

Elder Mariano Aupilardjuk will speak on the “Inuit Vision of Governance,” while educator Bert Rose and Paul Emingak of Pelly Bay will talk about the Sivuliuqtit program.

The federal bureaucrats on hand are to include Wilf Attwood from Nunavut’s DIAND office, Tom Malloy, DIAND’s chief negotiator for the Nunavut agreement, as well as human resource strategists Marcel Fortier and Francine Gauthier-Jones.

The conference will feature both plenary sessions and workshops moderated by academics. Students from Nunavut Arctic College will also participate in the conference.

The conference’s organizers intend to publish the proceedings in print and also make them available on the Internet.

The conference will cost $100 for students or $450 for other participants ($600 after March 1).

This fee includes the conference, meals and a banquet featuring Norther foods. For more information contact the conference’s web site at http://www.fsa.ulaval.ca/nunavut.