October 1, 2004
MLA retreat produces new wish list
Statement of intentions
will help to shape next legislative session
NUNATSIAQ NEWS
After meeting behind closed doors at a full caucus retreat in Arviat last
week, Nunavut MLAs have emerged with a wish list stating what they want to do
between now and the next election.
Like the 1999 Bathurst Mandate, which members of the first legislative assembly
created after a full caucus retreat in Bathurst Inlet, this one is also called
"Pinasuaqtavut." (In English, it means, roughly, "that which
we have set out to do.")
The cabinet will finish off the second Pinasuaqtavut document, get it printed
up, and then release it to the public after the legislative assembly resumes
sitting in Iqaluit on Nov. 16.
That session will start off with a throne speech that will likely incorporate
much of Pinasuaqtavut number two.
Specifically, MLAs want to:
- Open a Nunavut trade school by the end of the current legislative assembly;
- Set up an Electoral Boundaries Commission by early 2006, well before the
next territorial election;
- Finish plans for an Inuit cultural school;
- Finish plans for a territorial heritage centre, and to take back archeological
treasures now stored outside of Nunavut;
- Support health care reform, including 24-hour care for elders;
- Work for a public education system that focuses on graduating bilingual
youth able to succeed in post-secondary studies;
- Find practical ways of incorporating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit into the provision
of public services;
- Support home ownership programs, and work with NTI in persuading Ottawa
to join in on the GN-NTI 10-year Inuit housing action plan;
- Carry out the recommendations of the Auditor General of Canada and legislative
assembly standing committees to strengthen financial management in government
departments and territorial Crown corporations;
- Explore the idea of legislation governing the accountability of public
bodies across Nunavut;
- Carry out the Nunavut Economic Development Strategy aggressively, focusing
on mining and other "sectoral" areas.
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