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Tough stance on funding
Planning commission gives Ottawa deadline to pay for public hearing

Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 14, 2014

NUNAVUT
The Nunavut Planning Commission and the Canadian government are locked in a battle over the Nunavut Land Use Plan, with no resolution in sight.

In a July 2 letter, Percy Kabloona, the commission's acting chair, told Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) Minister Bernard Valcourt he had until July 4 to respond regarding the funding of a public hearing on the draft plan or face "any action necessary to compel the government to honour its obligation."

The purpose of the public hearing is to offer parties a venue to present comments and rationale after each has reviewed the plan. Covering two-million square kilometres, the plan is intended to provide for the conservation, development and utilization of the land. Following the hearing, a final draft would be presented to Valcourt for approval.

The land use plan and the public hearing are requirements under the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The hearing would ensure that Inuit, First Nations and others have a final opportunity to speak up on the draft before its March 31, 2015 Valcourt-imposed deadline.

However, AANDC has an alternate view on how the planning process should proceed at this point, one that doesn't necessarily include the commission.

"The commission's latest funding request will be assessed once AANDC has completed a thorough assessment of the current draft (plan)," stated Karen Costello, acting regional director general for Nunavut, in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North July 9. "This is a complex document and requires time for a proper and thorough review."

Costello added, "We will do our due diligence and engage with our planning partners, the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), and may require further dialogue with (the commission) to clarify elements of the draft plan."

The commission had previously suspended a public hearing on the draft Nunavut Land Use Plan, scheduled for November in Iqaluit, due to AANDC's lack of response regarding funding. Without funding in place it could not move forward with the estimated $1.7-million hearing.

Kabloona's letter was accompanied by a seven-page document outlining the commission's rationale, including a timeline detailing the commission's efforts over the years.

Kabloona especially refuted the AANDC claim that the commission has nothing to show for $54 million in core funding over 18 years.

"The government has failed to respond, in any meaningful way, to our request for these funds," stated Kabloona.

"The further silence of the government, on this subject, will be taken as a clear refusal to honour its fiduciary obligation."

Kabloona further suggested legal action by noting that the government's fiduciary duty "has been the subject of discussion and litigation, in many venues, covering many different subjects across Canada."

This is not the first time the Government of Canada is accused of failing to meet requirements under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. It is currently embroiled in a multi-pronged $1-billion lawsuit brought against it by NTI, with various matters in various states of advancement expected to go to trial in 2015.

NTI has declined to comment on the situation evolving between the commission and the Canadian government.

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