NUNAVUT
An indefinite ban on oil and gas drilling in Canadian Arctic waters, a decision to be revisited every five years, took Nunavut's premier by surprise.

Premier Peter Taptuna, seen here in Kugluktuk with his wife Joanne on Dec. 22, says Nunavummiut must be consulted on important decisions affecting their well-being. - David Ho/DnV Photography

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama made the joint announcement Dec. 20 as part of their shared Arctic leadership model introduced in March.

International media recognized this as a move by Obama to protect the world from climate change ahead of a Donald Trump presidency that appears ominous for the environment. Trump has famously said climate change is a Chinese hoax.

Premier Peter Taptuna sees the sudden announcement as a direct repercussion of the American election.

"Yes, absolutely," he told Nunavut News/North. "But we had anticipated that we were going to be consulted on things going forward for environmental protection and our economic well-being."

Economic well-being is one of Taptuna's main issues as Nunavut's leader.

The territorial economy is one of the three main pillars of Taptuna's mandate, which ends with the next territorial election in the fall. The other two are education and employment, he says.

The announcement by Trudeau and Obama designates all Arctic Canadian waters as indefinitely off limits to future offshore Arctic oil and gas licensing. The agreement will be reviewed every five years.

There is no drilling currently taking place in Nunavut waters.

Clyde River was at the Supreme Court of Canada in late November in an attempt to overturn a National Energy Board decision to allow seismic testing in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. Seismic testing is a known precursor to oil and gas development.

"The joint announcement from President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau is certainly good news," said Clyde River's lawyer Nader Hasan. "But it says nothing about the seismic blasting that Clyde River is presently fighting. The Trudeau government must make it clear - there should be no exploratory activity in our Arctic waters unless the Inuit have consented and unless the proposed activity meets rigorous, science-based environmental standards."

And that's the crux of the issue - Inuit decision-making.

From his home in Kugluktuk, Premier Peter Taptuna sounded subdued and disappointed after a day of speaking with other Northern leaders.

Despite a paragraph specifically written for the Inuit of Canada in the joint announcement, and a nod to engagement - the Inuit were not consulted. Was the announcement unexpected?

"Practically, yes. It's a really important step in protecting our environment and we want to do that in certain aspects and at the same time have an economic future through good discussions," said Taptuna, who acknowledged he was not the only Northern leader kept in the dark.

None of Canada's three territorial premiers was consulted.

"It's something I would have liked to be a participant in. I want to make sure that any decisions that are made are based on good consultations with any respective jurisdictions that are affected."

In a conversation the week before the announcement, Taptuna spoke with Nunavut News/North of Nunavut's poverty, despite being a land rich in resources.

"Nunavut has great potential to make it big time in terms of economic activity," he said. "We are graced with lots of minerals and although we haven't moved forward as fast as other jurisdictions ... when we talk about development, it's not development at all costs. We have IPGs (institutions of public governance) - Nunavut Impact Review Board, Nunavut Water Board, Nunavut Planning Commission - authorized to vet development. They are responsible for collecting facts and making recommendations to the minister of INAC (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada)."

However, Nunavut is often statistically compared to developing countries - a dire housing shortage plagues the territory, as do food insecurity, lack of employment opportunities and infrastructure issues - far beyond national averages.

"It's very difficult for Nunavut to attract investors when we have no infrastructure, no ports, no railroads, no roads - things every jurisdiction has for the most part, except Nunavut," said Taptuna.

The joint statement included a promise from Trudeau for a new Arctic Policy Framework.

"Today, for its part, Canada is committing to co-develop a new Arctic Policy Framework, with Northerners, territorial and provincial governments, and First Nations, Inuit, and Metis People that will replace Canada's Northern Strategy. The framework will include priority areas identified by the minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs' special representative, such as education, infrastructure, and economic development," Trudeau states.

Mary Simon, originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, was named to the role in the summer.

Trudeau stated the framework "will include an Inuit-specific component, created in partnership with Inuit, as Inuit Nunangat comprises over a third of Canada's land mass and over half of Canada's coast line, and as Inuit modern treaties govern this jurisdictional space."

And while the statement refers to Canada reducing the reliance of Northern communities on diesel, by deploying energy efficiency and renewable power, it says nothing about basic needs.

Taptuna says he's looking forward to engaging with Trudeau.

"We do have to have a say," he said.

"It affects the people of our territory. Inuit and people who live up here - they've lived up here for a long, long time and no doubt Northerners in Nunavut are going to be buried here in Nunavut and whatever decisions are made are going to affect us for a long time."

Meanwhile, devolution of land and resource powers to the territory has been slow to come.

First announced in October 2014, at the time the prediction was that an agreement in principle would be negotiated within a year, with offshore resource negotiations to take place at a later date. The Lands and Resources Devolution Negotiation Protocol signed in 2008 would serve as the framework for negotiations.

That process stalled due to the federal election in the fall of 2015. It was only on July 9, 2016 - Nunavut Day - that the federal government named a new federal negotiator.

Taptuna said Nunavut is looking forward to getting back to the negotiation table and some dates have been set aside.

With devolution would come the opportunity for Nunavut to generate its own revenue and the opportunity to plan its own infrastructure priorities.

"At this point we have to depend mostly on the federal government to say yea or nay," said Taptuna.

"Nunavut is a very important part of Canada. We expect our federal partners to pay attention to the needs of Nunavummiut, to the needs of Inuit. We do have to be involved in the discussions that affect our daily lives going into the future."