Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 30/05) - Justice Thomas Berger has been appointed as Conciliator for the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Implementation Contract negotiations.

He will help the three parties involved in the negotiations - the federal government, the Government of Nunavut, and the Inuit as represented by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) - resolve outstanding issues related to the lands claims implementation.

"We like (Berger's) record," said Paul Kaludjak, president of NTI, adding this is the reason they support him for the position.

Berger served on the Supreme Court of British Columbia from 1973 to 1983, during which time he headed the inquiry into the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

Kaludjak says the federal government has not lived up to the land claims agreement, signed in 1993, and implementation has taken too long. He cites economic development, education, housing, social development, and the level of Inuit hiring within government as specific problem areas.

The expected outcome of Berger's work is fair and timely implementation of the agreement, said Kaludjak.

Berger is scheduled to meet with NTI sometime in June. The first step will be to determine exactly what the problems with implementation are at this point, Kaludjak said.