Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 5, 2007

INUVIK - The office of Canada's auditor general has published a scathing report about the federal government's recognition of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

The agreement, signed in 1984, assigns limited self-government rights to Inuvialuit people, throughout their traditionally-used land across the northwestern NWT and Yukon.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser released the report on Oct. 30.

It raises several points about the Final Agreement, and a lack of proper recognition by the department of Indian and Northern Affairs. (INAC) The report also states that different aboriginal groups have raised similar concerns in recent years.

"In 2003 we made similar observations about the Department's approach to agreements with the Gwich'in and the Inuit. It is disappointing that INAC has continued to focus only on specific obligations and has not worked in partnership with Aboriginal groups toward the goals of these agreements," read the report.

"Twenty-threeyears after the Agreement came into effect, INAC still has not developed a strategy for implementing it. INAC has never formally identified federal obligations under the Agreement or determined which federal departments were responsible for which obligations. It has not developed a plan to ensure that federal obligations are met."

Another excerpt says the government's very credibility might be at stake.