Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq discusses the discrimination Inuit face including herself as an MP

jerrym wrote:

In the url below, Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq discusses in the url below the discrimination Inuit face, the failure of Conservative and Liberal governments to meet the basic needs of the Inuit, and the discrimination she has faced even as an MP on Parliament Hill. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQnzQIQn48

Thanks, I would not have heard it otherwise. 

Hungry Days In Nunavut: The Façade Of Inuit Self-Determination

quote:

A Façade of Inuit Self-Determination

Inuit negotiators worked hard for over 20 years to realize a governance structure they thought would protect Inuit culture and improve Inuit lives. They achieved what they could within the limitations of the Canadian system that offers few material rights to Indigenous people: A land claim and a new territorial government with a consensus-based Westminster-style government.

Nunavut means “our land” or “our homeland”— a name given to a new jurisdiction in Canada as a strong statement of reclamation of land and ourselves. We Inuit said, “This is our homeland!”

On the surface, Inuit in Nunavut look like they have achieved self-determination through a public government model that serves the majority of Inuit, with land claim rights that are to be implemented. 

In many areas, Inuit quality of life has declined or has stayed the same, including the basic needs for food security and housing. Nunavut Inuit face a severe housing crisis. Income remains low (non-Inuit make almost five times more on average, according to the 2016 census), and Nunavut has a very young population (or high growth population). Raising standards of living has to factor in looking after children and youth by making sure they are receiving their basic needs and being raised with the Inuit child rearing practices of Inunnguiniq. That is, striving to raise children to be healthy and productive parts of society — not pushing students out of school by disrespecting Inuit language and way of life, as is currently the case.

Hunting society amid an extraction economy is a recipe for conflict, and the mining economy more often wins as the system favours it. Canada’s food policies and programs are agricultural systems-based, which is also incongruent to the Inuit hunting way of life. Moreover, with the hangover and related damage of anti-fur and anti-sealing campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s — led by environmental groups such as Greenpeace — the idea that hunting is barbaric still pervades. 

This state of affairs raises the question: Who is actually benefiting from Nunavut?

Who Benefits in Nunavut?

I think we have to confront the reality that Nunavut is for Southern Canada — for these transient settlers I refer to as “incomers.” In other words, Nunavut is still very much a colony; it is a place for others to generate wealth from our lands and resources and leave the scraps and waste for the Inuit. Consider our contemporary reality:

In addition to the wage gap mentioned (incomers making five times that of Inuit), economic leakage is a major problem in Nunavut, where wages and purchase of supplies go directly south. Most Government of Nunavut (GN) procurement contract expenditures go outside the territory. In the ten fiscal years between 2010–2020, 61% of procurement expenditures went outside Nunavut; in 2019-2020, 76% went to firms outside of Nunavut. Between 2015-2020, GN sent over $1.4B south. 

A study commissioned by Nunavut Housing Corporation on housing construction costs found that 60% of costs associated with building housing units flow directly to the south in both labour and materials. If modular or semi-modular homes are considered, then the economic leakage is even more for modular models: 83% of spending flowing south.

Another company that reaps huge profits is the Northwest Company. Is there a clearer indication of colonial supply chains than the monopoly known as the Northern? While it provides almost all communities with retail and grocery outlets, this singular operation also exploits staff and overcharges consumers. Southerners complain of recent grocery inflation; Inuit have never known non-inflationary shopping. In the last two years, the Northwest Company reported a gross profit of over $700 million each year. Strikingly, the Northern is one monopoly among many in the territory.

And then there is mining. While a relatively recent phenomenon in Nunavut, companies like Baffinland and Agnico Eagle Mines are reporting billions in profit. Agnico made $2.067 billion in 2021. By comparison, the Government of Nunavut’s net spending  for the 2020–21 fiscal year was $2.584B. Obviously, Inuit benefit — there is employment in the mines and revenue sharing agreements — but it has to be acknowledged that the premise of these companies is to send profit from Nunavut.....