The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and the Future of the Eastern Arctic: The Uncharted Path to Effective Self-Government

KEVIN R. GRAY

ABSTRACT

The Nunavut Agreement is the first comprehensive land claims agreement in Canada to extend aboriginal self-government over a vast region. It is not localized self-government, the jurisdiction of which is comparable to a municipality. Instead, Nunavut is unique for a land claim in that it guarantees political rights to self-government. However, self-government takes on a new meaning in Nunavut. It is a government system that is enshrined in democratic principles such as popular representation. Moreover, it becomes a recognized governing region in Canada with a distinct cultural identity. "Public government" in Nunavut thus provides effective self-government, due to the huge Inuit majority of the population in the Eastern Arctic. Any omissions in the Agreement can be covered by an Inuit territorial government with broad administrative powers. Inuit concerns become entrenched in the government agenda due to the majority status of the Inuit in Nunavut. However, public government does not liberate the Inuit from the hardships experienced in the communities. It is at the community level where significant change occurs. Therefore, newly acquired political rights will not resolve problems, but only facilitate their solutions. Thus, while the future of the Eastern Arctic relies on factors that are yet to be determined, one constant will be the elevation of Inuit interests onto the government agenda and the preservation of Inuit culture, which can never be eroded in a land where no other group is a threat to become the majority.

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Citation: (1994) 52(2) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 300.
Copyright © 1994. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review.
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