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Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
 Alexa McDonough: "Delighted" to return to Iqaluit, the NDP leader says Ottawa is shirking its responsibilities to Nunavut. |
For starters, what brought you up here?
Alexa McDonough: I'm here to participate with the local NDP riding association around the whole process of the party revitalization, which is something that we launched over the last six months. And, of course, building towards our convention in November. Local folks here were very keen to get together to talk about the future of the NDP and where Nunavut fits into that. So I was delighted to be able to come for that reason alone.
Let me go back for a minute. I had the privilege of being here for the launch of the new territory, and let's just say that in my 22 years of politics, it was one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever had. There was just such an incredible sense of promise and opportunity, and genuine hope and pride. There was this incredible sense of a whole community coming together, and all the while that I was here through that three-and-a-half days, I also had in the pit of my stomach, a kind of worrying about how quickly the federal government would view the launch of the new territory as an excuse to download and offload its responsibilities.
So I had a real interest in trying to keep in touch with some folks here, to monitor how things are happening here, to keep abreast of developments. (Iqaluit Centre MLA) Hunter Tootoo, who was our federal candidate the election before last, was elected to the territorial government, I've had a chance to meet the premier now a couple times, and other residents, and I think it is a serious problem.
You know, you have a rapidly growing population here, you have a major problem with the inadequate infrastructure, even more serious than many other have-not parts of the country because the other parts of the country, you have a problem of aging infrastructure. Here you have a problem with non-existent infrastructure and the federal government seems to be quite unresponsive. When pressed, the government's response seems to be, "Oh, well, on a per capita basis, you're doing well by comparison." That means nothing when you take into account the cost of living in the North, the cost of transporting goods, the early stage of development of the educational training infrastructure....
I'm still very much struck by how incredible the commitment of this community is to fulfil its potential and live up to its promise surrounding the launch of the new territory, but also a tremendous sense of frustration and unease.
Has Ottawa cut Nunavut loose?
AM: Yes. Because they know when they say that on a per capita level, you're doing better than most, it means nothing in terms of meeting the actual needs in the community. When other new territories were launched, when other provincial jurisdictions were launched, there were major investments, recognizing what it is to give birth to a new territory or province. The federal government has to be prepared to provide investment to bring it to a greater level of self-sufficiency and sustainability.
The mayor was just leaving as I was coming in. Who else have you met with?
AM: I'm meeting the premier tomorrow. Over the early part of the afternoon, I met with members of the local constituency association who gave me a real overview because they're like a microcosm of the community representing education, health, economic development, the artistic community.
You've talked about revitalizing a party. I can only assume that's a byproduct of the NDP's showing in the last election. How do you see that revitalization happening?
AM: It's only partly as a result of the disappointing results in the last election. I actually think that most New Democrats would agree, and our critics as well, that a major debate within the party about our future is probably about 10 years overdue. The politics of this country have changed a lot and that was reflected in the early '90s in the ascent of the right-wing forces initially, the challenge that the Reform Party provided, and increasingly, and even more seriously, the Liberal Party becoming more the right-wing force.
It's a circular problem which means more and more dominance by corporate interests, less influence by citizens and less ability for citizens to have their hopes and dreams and aspirations addressed by the government. I think we have to have a major discussion about what does social democracy in the 21st century mean in the context of this country and the bigger.
What impact does a revitalized NDP have on Nunavut?
AM: The issue of whether it's relevant takes about two seconds, because people are immediately into talking about community, and what does it mean to them. What is it that they want for their children, and their community and their country? That really is about social democratic values. You know, the fundamental values of sustainability from the point of view of economic sustainability and ecological sustainability. The issues of equality and social equity.
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is challenging the gun-control law. Do you support the challenge?
AM: I'm not intimately familiar with the challenge. I will acknowledge freely that this is an issue that has provided real challenges and tensions within the NDP because this is not an issue which falls into any category of ideology. It's an issue that divides people based on geography, livelihood, culture. We're not different from any other party in that we reflect that in our membership. We reflect that in the diversity of our own caucus. The NDP does not easily come to grips with this issue. Individual members do reflect the reality of either being urban based, or rural, Northern based. There's been a decision really to agree to disagree, and that's the reality.
David Ward wants to sue the federal government for not providing Inuit with the same level of benefits available to other First Nations peoples under the Indian Act. Are you familiar with the case and do you support such a suit?
AM: Again, not in legalistic detail, but in the context, absolutely. Actually, there are several similar court challenges at the moment around the same sort of fundamental concept of assuring that people have reasonable and equal access to the basics of life.... Those go back to my discussion of what are the fundamental values of the NDP, of social democracy that are widely shared in this country by people. Far from being an anachronism, or being outdated, they are literally the values that hold the country together.
Do you think that your party is electable in Nunavut?
AM: I think the challenge is whether we can capture people's imagination and more importantly to energize people to be involved in between elections in the patient, solid work of party building and political mobilization in communities. Many, many New Democrats, including the ones I've met with today, have expressed a strong commitment to working between elections in a way that hasn't always happened.
If you ask me, do I think it's possible to elect New Democrats in Nunavut, there's a history of electing social democrats from this area. Our federal candidate from 1997 was elected territorially. Our candidate from the 2000 election is absolutely committed to continuing to work, so I have nothing but optimism for what's possible.
If a revitalized NDP says it needs a new leader, how do you cope with that?
AM: Not only is that something that I would absolutely respect, but (it's) something that's in the NDP constitution. We don't just have leadership conventions when either a leader says they're moving on or when the membership decides to push a leader out. We have a leadership convention in every convention. So there will be a leadership convention in November and I believe very much in that process. I think it's one of the strengths of the NDP that democratic process goes on at every convention and I would strenuously object to that ever being challenged.
