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A brave new deal for Nunavik

As Quebec asserts its "nationhood," Nunavik gets more than $900 million for a variety of public services and infrastructure projects

JANE GEORGE

TASIUJAQ — Nunavik and Quebec signed a major package deal on economic development this week that will see at least $900 million of Quebec City’s money flow into Nunavik over the next 25 years.

Beneficiaries of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement will vote within the coming month on the deal in a Nunavik-wide referendum.

Nunavik leaders describe the pact as a renewal of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement that finally implements the James Bay Land Claim’s vision for northern Quebec.

"After signing the agreement, I can show [our youth] they have a future now. In the past, when we signed agreements, we were always dictated to. Now we’re dictating together. This is a new beginning, a new era that we’re starting," the Makivik Corporation’s president, Pita Aatami, said in Tasiujaq. "We’re starting to work as partners."

Bernard Landry, Quebec’s premier, described the deal as a mark of Quebec’s "absolute respect" for Inuit and a sign of the trust between Québécois and Inuit. He said an inuksuk erected near Quebec’s parliament building will symbolize the friendship between Quebec and Nunavik.

Landry promoted the occasion as a proof of Quebec’s nationhood and the "will of its people."

He said the deal shows that Quebec is a multi-ethnic, diverse "small nation" characterized by its citizens’ shared goals and their commitment to improving its living conditions.

"We can still do better," Landry said. "Quebec and Inuit should do better. It’s our collective responsibility."

Landry and native affairs minister Rémy Trudel signed the agreement with Aatami and Johnny Adams, head of the Kativik Regional Government, at the Makivik Corporation’s annual general meeting.

The deal is intended to speed up development of the region’s hydroelectric, mining and tourism potential.

In it, Quebec and Nunavik agree how to share the financial benefits of this development, Makivik and the KRG gain more autonomy, and the residents of Nunavik get better public services and improved infrastructure.

The agreement’s 14-page preamble defines it as a "nation-to-nation" agreement, strengthening political, economic and social relations between Quebec and the Inuit of Nunavik.

About 30 per cent of Quebec’s native peoples have struck similar deals with the separatist Parti Québécois government.

But Landry said the Nunavik agreement differs from the $3.5-billion mega-deal that Quebec signed in February with the James Bay Cree.

"There’s a big difference, because with the Cree there was a quarrel, so we called it ‘a peace,’ " Landry said during a stopover in Kuujjuaq. "Here, it’s a partnership, an agreement."

In Tasiujaq, Landry promised to move ahead with Nunavik’s self-government process.

But this week’s agreement doesn’t specifically talk about self-government.

Nunavik’s chief negotiator, Anthony Ittoshat, said the deal wasn’t linked to self-government, because Makivik and the KRG feared that that would drag it down.

However, the deal does act on recommendations made last year by the Nunavik Commission to give the region block-funding and more decision-making power.

At the signing ceremony in Tasiujaq, Aatami recalled how he felt "betrayed" last year because Quebec hadn’t tried to negotiate the same kind of agreement with Inuit as it did with the Cree.

When talks between Quebec and Inuit did begin in earnest, these weren’t always smooth. Inuit negotiators Adams and Ittoshat said they walked away from the table on more than one occasion.

Not all the items of their shopping list were met, either — such as two jails for the region and the retroactive repayment of millions of dollars spent by Makivik on building community arenas. But both negotiators said they were happy with the final deal.

Adams said the deal brings hope, particularly to young Nunavimmiut, in the form of jobs and many other tangible improvements to the region.

"It can only help," Adams said. "Whatever we do to improve our situation can only help young people."

Landry’s overnight stop in Kuujjuaq en route to Tasiujaq included a lavish five-course banquet based on country food, but the signing ceremony in Tasiujaq was a businesslike affair, followed by a modest luncheon.

Then the VIPs flew back to Quebec City, while delegates at Makivik’s annual general meeting in Tasiujaq spent hours going over the text of the agreement.

Some delegates wondered whether their aboriginal rights could be diminished by the deal, and expressed worries about the environmental impact of hydroelectric projects on marine and animal life.

But the overall reaction was positive. Delegates gave Adams and Ittoshat a standing ovation in recognition of their negotiation efforts.

Between now and the end of April, the two leaders will tour Nunavik communities to discuss the deal in detail.

The new agreement must be approved by May 10.

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