Tagoona said the rest of the hamlets, all of which are in support of the venture, asked that Baker Lake not vote on the project because of its outspoken opposition throughout the meeting.

The Keewatin Pilot Project is an initiative of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs that is designed to hand over capital spending power to the communities.

Graeme Dargo, the assistant deputy minister for MACA who attended the meetings in Rankin, said he is unaware that Baker Lake was asked to abstain from voting.

"I don't think anyone was asked to abstain," he said. "Obviously, there's something wrong with the communication." He said he understands Baker Lake voluntarily refrained from voting.

Furthermore, said Dargo, there was no decision made at the meeting to implement the project, but merely a resolution passed to move ahead with the next step in the process of gathering information on the issue.

But Tagoona said he doesn't see what the initiative can do for his community, except to create another level of government.

"I feel each community can deal with its own capital plans directly with Yellowknife instead of getting another body," he said.

Dargo disagrees. "It would be a regional approach to government -- it wouldn't be a regional government," he said.

The project may go ahead without the community, he added.

"It's unfortunate that Baker Lake has decided to pull out when they don't have all the information to make an informed decision," he said. "When (MACA Minister) Manitok Thompson addressed these people, she made it clear that she's looking for a majority, not a consensus."

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jose Kusugak, who is also against the project, said that the Keewatin Pilot Project should be put on hold until after division in 1999. NTI passed a resolution last week to defer the project to the Nunavut government.

"KPP would significantly alter the structure and authorities of the Nunavut government and the community governments within Kivalliq in a manner that could interfere with the Nunavut government's ability to implement the decentralized model approved in Footprints 2," said NTI in a statement released last week.