National Post (National Edition)
Idle No More: The view from the (far, far) North
A Canadian Inuit leader explains the unique concerns of Canada’s indigenous Arctic communities
History will judge how the goal posts have shifted for aboriginal peoples as a result of the Idle No More protest movement. But after a month of national focus on First Nations issues, I have to say that it is positive to see all sides of the political spectrum take genuine interest in these matters.
Canada’s Inuit — the indigenous peoples who populate the Arctic — have observed this ongoing political process with interest. But Inuit are not members of Canada’s “First Nations,” as that term has come to be defined — and our circumstances will require different solutions.
The Inuit have signed five modern, comprehensive land claim agreements (from 1975 to 2008), but we are experiencing strained relations with the Crown over their implementation. We have chosen the route of arbitration, and ultimately litigation (in the case of Nunavut), as the method of obtaining justice. As with our modern Inuit land-claim agreements, we believe the Crown should better honour the historic numbered treaties signed with First Nation Indians between 1871 and 1921.
The Inuit homeland in Arctic Canada, which we call “Inuit Nunangat,” includes 53 communities spread over a massive geographic region, including significant areas of two territories and two provinces. These communities are municipalities, not reserves. All but one (Inuvik) have no permanent road links to the rest of Canada. Tuktoyaktuk and Aklavik have winter ice roads, and soon Tuktoyaktuk will have a permanent road. Up in the North, that counts as progress.
Housing, health and hunger top the list of critical issues for Inuit, with education also a top priority. Inuit suicide and tuberculosis rates are many times higher than the national average. We have consistently made submissions to government to address these issues, and will continue to do so.
It is vital that the critical issues identified as priorities for Inuit are substantially addressed. The Arctic is experiencing a resource-development boom. The economies of some Inuit communities will change significantly as a result. We want to ensure that our youth are well prepared to take advantage of the resource-development jobs that exist, and those being planned.
To do so, our communities will need better infrastructure, notably more social housing, health facilities and policy measures designed to address the high cost of living. Inuit have developed a national plan to address improvements in our education system, and we are implementing that plan in co-operation with provincial and territorial governments, as well as the government of Canada.
Reducing consultations with aboriginal peoples, obfuscating significant regulatory changes inside dense omnibus bills and accelerating environmental reviews for the benefit of resource-- development firms is not the way to “improve relations.” It’s a recipe to have aboriginal policy developed by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Having said that, it would be disingenuous to say that Canada is not addressing issues in our communities, and working with Inuit to find solutions. Stephen Harper has visited the Arctic many times, and has held cabinet meetings there, as well as a G7 finance minister’s meeting in Iqaluit in 2010. Arguably because of these frequent visits, the Prime Minister knows much work is needed to transform the dismal statistics that plague our communities. Life expectancy
Seals are not endangered and polar bear populations are increasing. That’s an inconvenient truth that the usual activist crowd doesn’t want you to know about
among Inuit is 13 years lower than the average Canadian. Less than 25% of Inuit graduate from high school. Sadly, there are many more indicators I could cite.
We are also being challenged from abroad by those who would seek to end our way of life for the supposed benefit of the animals that share our environment. Seals are not endangered, and polar bear populations are increasing under our successful co-management. That’s an inconvenient truth that animal-rights activists and environmentalists don’t want you to know about.
Long lists of critical issues that need addressing are prevalent among the Inuit I represent. As the national Inuit leader, I could be in permanent outrage mode with the Crown. But instead of casting the relationship between the Canadian government and its indigenous peoples in black-and-white terms, I would prefer to commend Environment Canada officials, and our Canadian ambassadors abroad. They are helping us battle Goliath, both in our attempt to challenge a European Union seal ban in EU courts, and to counter efforts to list polar bears as endangered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. For Inuit, that means putting food on the table. That’s a bread-and-butter issue I think all Canadians can relate to.
You don’t see a lot of Inuit traveling south to attend Idle No More protests, for the same reason most Canadians don’t visit the Arctic: It costs $5,000 for a return flight to Ottawa from Grise Fiord, Nunavut. Inuit support the movement, but we’re a pragmatic people.
I encourage all Canadians to see first-hand the plight of Inuit and aboriginal peoples in Canada, to seek assistance in doing so from the federal government, and to encourage incentives so that all Canadians may see the vastness of our great country and what makes us a true Arctic nation. Expansion of our collective understanding within our own borders can only benefit us as a united country.