1999 – 2009,An exhibition celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Canada's newest territory, Inuit Sculpture Contemporary Photography
The North is an essential part of Canada's identity and an area of growing importance internationally. Northerners, including the residents of Nunavut, have brought a number of emerging issues to the world's attention: the dangers and challenges posed by climate change; the need for sustainable economic development; and the importance of sharing experiences and knowledge with our circumpolar neighbors and the world. Canada's policy on the North, the Northern Strategy, responds to these challenges.
Two dates are important in Nunavut's modern history: July 9, 1993 and April 1, 1999. On July 9, 1993, the Canadian Parliament made the Nunavut Lands Claim Agreement effective. This was an important milestone in Canada's relationship with aboriginal peoples. On April 1, 1999, the government and territory of Nunavut were formally established. This fulfilled a key obligation under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and is an important landmark in Canada's constitutional history. While Nunavut Day is celebrated every year on July 9th, special attention is paid to April 1, 2009 since it marks the 10th anniversary of Canada's newest territory.
This was a fantastic exhibition really enjoyed it, But reading up about it after not all is rosie. Same old story government gives them what they want, knowing full well if they dump it on their laps and let them get on with it. They will stuggle and initially make a dogs ear of it, because they don’t have the experience and knowledge to run things properly so the Canadian government has to step in and still control. Not good.
Article about Nunavut
‘Nunavut was created before its time, he says: Inuit were uneducated and unprepared in 1999 to run a territorial government.’ Jack Anawak
Nunavut does not even fully control its annual budget: more than 90% of its billion dollar operating revenues come straight from Ottawa. The Crown still collects most of Nunavut’s resource revenues, and until the right to manage resources is devolved to the territory – likely during the next few decades – Ottawa retains the accruing royalties and taxes.
Canada’s largest land claim; before Nunavut, there was the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the largest aboriginal land-claims settlement in Canadian history. It came into force on July 9 1993, a date now celebrated throughout the territory as Nunavut Day. However, the land claims did not actually create the new territory. That was accomplished with a separate piece of legislation, the Nunavut Act, which came into force on April1, 1999.
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement sets out the terms of more than a billion dollars in federal payments, as well as land-use rights specific to Inuit (the right to harvest wildlife and limited rights to subsurface minerals and oil and gas, among others), in exchange for which the Inuit of Nunavut surrendered their aboriginal title and claims to lands and waters.
Nunavut’s Public Government; Unlike the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which confers rights on Inuit alone, the Nunavut government represents all residents of the territory, known as Nunavummiut. But because the population is 85% Inuit, the agreement sets out strict Inuit employment goals. The object is to increase the number of Inuit employed by the Nunavut government to a level that reflects the ratio of Inuit within the territory’s population. An early target for April 1 1999 was 50% Inuit employment. The government did not reach that goal until 2007. Indeed, even full employment remains a distant goal. The territory’s bureaucracy is still only 80% staffed.
Evolution of devolution; The Federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is responsible for the administration, control and management of land, water and resources in Nunavut, including oil and gas. But that will eventually change as those responsibilities – and the management of any related environmental issues – are transferred to the Government of Nunavut in a devolution process currently under way. But exactly when those province-like powers will change hands is unclear. ………… no deadline was proposed, and at least one item has been left off the table for now: offshore resources. Although Nunavut leaders have been pushing to include it, Ottawa is not yet ready to discuss transferring jurisdictional authority over seabed oil and gas in Nunavut’s surrounding waters.
What is clear from a consultant’s report released in June 2007 is that Nunavut has neither the human capacity nor the expertise to handle devolution. Article by Lisa Gregoire
