$5 million for university
Agnico Eagle announces building fund starter to standing ovation
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, April 14, 2014
IQALUIT
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has started a building fund for a university in Nunavut by pledging $5 million towards a bricks-and-mortar project.
Company chairman James Nasso made the announcement April 10 during the Nunavut Mining Symposium awards gala, held at the Iqaluit curling rink.
Attendees welcomed the news with a standing ovation.
Education Minister Paul Quassa said the Government of Nunavut has not yet identified a timeline, location or budget for this project. It is still in the preliminary stages.
Dale Coffin, spokesperson for Agnico Eagle, said the company is committed to helping the idea come to fruition.
"We're happy to play any role we can," he said. "But we're hoping others see this as a great initiative and share the vision as well and come forward."
Canada is the only circumpolar nation, of eight, without its own university in the North, a fact Nasso and Coffin find surprising.
"We're lagging so we need to move ahead," said Coffin. "If we want our people to develop, we need to have the bricks and mortar. It can't be a concept, it can't be virtual, it needs to be there."
Currently, Nunavummiut who wish to pursue post-secondary education either attend Nunavut Arctic College or they leave the territory for schools down south.
Students can also access the University of the Arctic, an international co-operative network of circumpolar universities, colleges and other organizations, through an eligible school. However, it is not a degree-granting institute.
Nunavummiut have long dreamed of having a university in Nunavut.
A group of Nunavummiut came together in 2009 and formed the Ilitturvik University Society. The aim was to get an Iqaluit-based university up and running. The group wanted an institution that would offer subjects relevant to Nunavummiut and take into account the Inuit perspective.
"This is what is missing in much of today's Arctic debate," Ilitturvik member Kirt Ejesiak told Nunavut News/North in 2009. "Educated Inuit are missing at the table. We are capable of solving many of our collective problems. This is what is happening across the bay with our cousins in Greenland. There are many things we can learn by going to see them and inviting them to Nunavut."
Establishing a Northern university is one of the priorities set out in the 2011 National Strategy on Inuit Education. However, the report warns there could be controversy over where the institution should be located and how to organize it so it serves the needs of all regions.
