Negotiating Indigenous Reconciliation: Territorial Rights and Governance in Nunavut (Commentaries: The World at Large‪)‬

In April 1999 a new jurisdiction became the largest and least populous member of the Canadian federation. Nunavut, significantly meaning 'our land' in the language of the overwhelming Inuit majority, has only 27,000 people. These people live in small towns, villages, and hunting camps scattered around the treeless islands and coasts of Canada's Eastern Arctic. Larger than Quebec or Australia's Queensland, there are no roads joining Nunavut's communities, nor tying the region to the rest of Canada. In recent years the links have been scheduled, including charter aircraft, an annual sea-lift for staples and heavy materials (ice conditions permitting), and the broadcast and computer media which will knit the region into Canada and the world. Nunavut has similar powers to a Canadian province or Australian state. It is in charge of schooling, local government, health, housing (no small matter in the Arctic), social matters, regulation of business, lands, and resources, with wide powers to tax and spend. But there are some very special features. For one thing, the Inuit language is taught and used in all areas of work, except for a few highly technical matters. Furthermore, the federal and territorial government share jurisdiction over lands and resources, while Inuit have obtained, through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, major land holdings and guaranteed direct participation in various policy and management bodies. The innovative structural arrangements, processes, and political framework, as well as the political culture of Nunavut, potentially make it Canada's strongest environment and sustainable development regime, while nonetheless providing the predictability which resource companies require for their operations.