Canada OKs indigenous government in Quebec
MONTREAL (AFP) — An agreement in principle was signed Wednesday by the governments of Canada and Quebec, and indigenous representatives creating a semi-autonomous Inuit government in northern Quebec.
The new Nunavik government would be headed by an Assembly made up of 21 members, including a five-member executive council, elected by the 11,000 mostly Inuit residents of the region, said a joint statement.
The term "Inuit" is used to describe indigenous peoples of Canada, Alaska and Greenland, whose language is considered an Eskimo-Aleut dialect.
The new government's jurisdictions and powers would cover education, health, public security and transportation, and span 660,000 square kilometers (255,000 square miles) between the 55th and 62nd parallels.
But it would still remain subordinate to Quebec's National Assembly and Canada's Parliament, unlike the Arctic Nunavut territory created in 1999.
The pact "is at the heart of our desire to promote, as never before, the socioeconomic development of the Inuit communities," said Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
"It aims to build an efficient government institution truly adapted to the needs of Nunavik."
Federal Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Chuck Strahl echoed: "We want to see to it that the Inuit can make their own decisions concerning the preservation and development of their distinctive culture."
Pita Aatami, president of the non-profit organization Makivik, said she hoped for a "better Nunavik" and for the violence, suicides and narcotics abuse that have become endemic to its 14 villages on the shores of Hudson's and Ungava Bay to be alleviated as a result of this pact.
A final accord is expected in the coming years.
