Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 22/01) - It's official. "Special consideration," as specified in the Nunavut Land Claims agreement, means Inuit get treated the same as everyone else.

The Supreme Court of Canada last week dismissed a request to hear an appeal from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., of a lower court decision on how the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans allocates turbot quotas.

In a one-sentence statement, the court ruled that NTI's application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

That means NTI has to pay the court for the costs of hearing the application.

Nunavut Tunngavik board members were not immediately available for comment following the ruling. Members of the NTI legal team in Ottawa were teleconferencing with staff in Iqaluit shortly after the decision was made public.

Laurie Pelly, NTI's director of legal services, said the Supreme Court's decision is "very distressing."

"The courts have basically shown that they will have huge deference to ministerial decision-making," she added.

The turbot allocation saga has been going on publicly, behind the scenes and through the courts for years. At its heart is how the minister of fisheries allocates quotas of turbot to fishers on the East Coast, and a long-standing principle known as "adjacency."

Adjacency means the people who live closest to a resource like turbot should get the first crack at harvesting it.

Article 15.3.7 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement states that the government "recognizes the principle of adjacency and economic dependence ... on marine resources, and shall give special consideration when allocating commercial fishing licences."

Pelly said that successive fisheries ministers have consistently given Inuit quotas "down at about the 25 to 27 per cent range" of the total turbot quota.

The rest of the quota for turbot off waters east of Baffin Island goes to fishers in the Atlantic provinces.

The two sides have fought in court since 1997. Most recently, in July 2000, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that Fisheries and Oceans had not given NTI proper consideration when allocating quota percentages.

DFO appealed and the ruling was overturned in October 2000. NTI applied for leave to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, which is the last level of appeal, last December.

Pelly warned that other groups negotiating comprehensive land claims agreements should exercise caution.

"I think other groups should look for much more elaborate language," she said.

See you in court

NTI has been fighting DFO over turbot allocations since 1997.

- 1997: Fisheries Minister Fred Mifflin allocates 24 per cent of Turbot Quota off Baffin Island to NTI.

- June 1997: Federal Court overturns quota, DFO appeals.

- July 1998: Court of Appeal dismisses DFO's appeal

- 1998: Fisheries Minister David Anderson sets quotas for turbot, NTI challenges quota again.

- September 1999: Federal Court dismisses NTI's challenge, NTI appeals.

- October 2000: Federal Court of hears arguments, dismisses NTI's appeal.

- December 2000: NTI applies to Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal.

- Oct. 18, 2001: Supreme Court dismisses application for leave to appeal.