Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Pannituuq (Oct 22/01) - In 1993, Nunavut leaders signed the Land Claims Agreement, capping decades of talks. Nunavummiut now have their territory, but 41 other articles remain in various stages of implementation. News/North looks at where Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. goes from here.

Delegates at last week's annual general meeting in Pannituuq sign the Nunavut Tunngavik flag. - Kevin Wilson/NNSL photo

Creating a territory is a tough act to follow.

Eight years after the Canadian government, the government of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., formerly the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, there are still 41 articles left to implement.

Some, such as the creation of various boards and review agencies, are partially in place, but none of the remaining tasks are as dramatic and attention-grabbing as building a territory from scratch.

Kakki Peter, a 19-year-old computer technician, is one of NTI's bright young beneficiaries, one of the most likely to give the organization a critical eye. And yet, his relationship with the guardian land claim organization is tenuous at best.

"I don't think that much about them," he says. "I'm sure if you asked any beneficiary on the street, they'd tell you the same thing."

Once in a while, you hear about some "big story" or a scandal, but from Peter's vantage point, NTI just doesn't have that much relevance.

"I know they have a budget," he says. "But I don't know what they spend it on."

The chances he'll bother to find out any time soon are relatively slim. The top three board members of NTI could not, or would not comment for this article. One didn't want to seem to be politicking during an election. Another is travelling. A third is in hospital.

Former NTI president Paul Quassa is less circumspect. He worries that NTI could become overly focused on maintaining itself and less interested in making life better for beneficiaries.

"NTI should be ensuring the beneficiaries are living the same standard, or better, than the rest of Canada," he says.

Articles 1 through 42 deal with a dizzying array of issues near and dear to the hearts of Nunavummiut. But land-use planning (Article 11) and Inuit employment within government (Article 23) aren't splashy issues with immediate or generous payoffs.

Reason for being

Graham White is a University of Toronto political science professor who closely watches territorial issues. He says NTI faces "a tough set of challenges" getting the rest of the claim implemented.

"Most (of the articles in the agreement) are not like Article 4, with clearly defined objectives and time frames," says White.

Implementation, he points out, is often a twin process of applying the nose to the grindstone coupled with hawk-eyed vigilance to make sure that anything that happens in the Nunavut Settlement Area is a net gain for beneficiaries.

"To a certain extent, NTI's role is to monitor ... NTI is constantly looking over the shoulders of the federal government," says Quassa. The risk, he adds, is that if NTI, "is constantly monitoring and looking into the process, it's not delivering."

In the long term, White says NTI may have to reconsider its place in a post-implementation Nunavut.

"At some point, NTI will essentially have to rethink its role, but that's a long ways away," he says.

Ensuring that the signatories to the agreement live up to their obligations is a "lifetime responsibility," according to White.

"They'll need to be vigilant all the time."