Conference to measure 'Project Nunavut'
Look at past and future, 15 years after formation of the territory
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 5, 2015
IQALUIT
A high-level conference to be held at the Southway Hotel in Ottawa Feb. 4 and 5 will examine how "Project Nunavut" – a term coined by Thomas Berger – is faring 15 years after the formation of the territory.
The conference, entitled Nunavut at 15: Taking Stock of Nunavut's Political, Social, Economic and Policy Developments Since 1999, is organized by the Northern Institute for Policy and Law, a private educational and research organization based in Iqaluit.
"It's important that Northerners and southerners understand that there is a national interest in the state of Nunavut and to make sure that Nunavut prospers into the future," said Terry Fenge, co-chair of the conference and senior negotiator for the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut during the land claims agreement negotiations.
Arthur Yuan, legal counsel for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the man who originally set up the Northern Institute, asked Fenge and Peter Crowley, former principal secretary to Eva Aariak when she was premier, to co-chair the conference.
Internationally, said Fenge, there is a tremendous interest in the Nunavut Project, in the Nunavut government, in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, in the implementation of the land claim agreement.
"(A conference like this) has never been tried before. This is something of an experiment. We have brought together a stellar set of speakers, people with extraordinary experience … a really interesting mix of people in terms of expertise and experience."
Tom Siddon, who served as minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development when the final negotiations for the establishment of Nunavut were taking place, will be a keynote speaker, as well as Tom Malloy, who was the federal chief negotiator. Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna, former premier Eva Aariak, Baffinland's Tom Paddon, Senator Dennis Patterson and Nunavut Languages Commissioner Sandra Inutiq are also among the speakers.
As for outcomes of the conference, Fenge says, "I think we're hoping very much that there will be a series of statements that will be translated into recommendations that will then go forward to the Government of Canada, to the territorial government, to Inuit organizations, to environmental and public interest organizations, and to business and industry. We're trying to cast the net very broadly here."
Fenge adds, "We're all in this together and, if Nunavut is to be put on a path of future prosperity, various people from various sectors of society will have roles to play. So our intent is to be inclusive, certainly not exclusive."
He expects "an in-depth and articulate debate not only about local and parochial issues, but about national issues and about the place of Nunavut in the circumpolar world and beyond."
Fenge explains that Chatham House Rule will be invoked during the conference. According to the rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers, nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
That rule will be in place to encourage openness and the sharing of information, said Fenge. Reporters in attendance may speak with participants separately to confirm attribution or to discuss issues on the record.
"We want people to feel free in saying what they feel needs to be said," said Fenge. "We feel that it's time for people to be clear, succinct, direct and honest with each other. I think there have been meetings in the past where people just give the political and party lines. We want to go above and beyond that."
Fenge expects between 100 and 150 people will attend the conference.
