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Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
"It's all about lobbying and networking and learning," Keith Peterson said last week of the April 30-May 3 gathering.
Mayors and senior administrators from Nunavut have had more contact with federal cabinet ministers and politicians than at any previous NAM meeting, Peterson said.
Access to federal politicians came during formal and informal meetings, presentations, luncheons and receptions.
Federal cabinet ministers who made time for the Northerners included Finance Minister Paul Martin, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault, Public Works Minister Don Boudria and the minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Robert Thibault.
"They can free themselves up down here for a half an hour or an hour to come to these functions," Peterson pointed out.
One of the messages Northern politicians focused on was the need for more infrastructure dollars. Peterson said the association is disappointed the federal government has limited the $2-billion infrastructure fund announced last year to large projects.
The idea of moving the AGM to Ottawa was not embraced by all. In the legislative assembly last March, MLA Jack Anawak criticized Peterson for taking money away from Cambridge Bay, where Peterson is mayor, by deciding to hold the meeting in the South. Not all Nunavut MLAs agreed.
Community Government Minister Manitok Thompson, who attended the meeting, told the hamlet leaders that the government wants them to set the goals for their communities, and that it was her department's job to help the communities achieve those goals.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Jose Kusugak, meanwhile, congratulated the association on the decision to hold the meeting in Ottawa.
"I believe it is important to get away from one's region once in a while and look at issues from a different or larger perspective," Kusugak said.
