HONOURABLE EVA AARIAK

PREMIER OF

Northern Economic and Sovereignty Conference

Iqaluit, Nunavut

October 13, 2010

Check against delivery Ullaakkut, Good Day, Bonjour. C’est un plaisir de vous voir tous.

Thank you Senator Patterson, for the lovely introduction. I am delighted to be here for the 1st Annual Northern Economic and Sovereignty Conference.

I would like to welcome our guests who have come from out of town:

[Minister Aglukkaq, Nicole Jauvin, James Eetoolook, Mr. Poilievre]. I see some new faces in the room today, and I imagine we have some first time visitors to Nunavut. It is a pleasure to have you here.

I was born in an outpost camp, outside what is now the community of

Arctic Bay. I was fourteen years old the first time I left Nunavut to go away to school. I remember the day my plane touched down in what would become my new home – the “big city” of Churchill, Manitoba. It was so different from my community of where we had only one of everything: one teacher, one school, one RCMP officer, one store. I remember looking around Churchill with a sense of awe, knowing that life would never be quite the same.

I have heard that first time visitors to Nunavut experience something similar, arriving in a reality so different from what they are used to.

Certainly, as I will discuss shortly, our infrastructure and economy is much different from southern jurisdictions. But most importantly, for our first time visitors, I can attest to the fact that now that you have visited Nunavut, your life too might never be quite the same.

Nunavut is certainly unique. Our territory boasts a consensus-style government with three official languages. A fifth of Canada’s land mass,

Nunavut is comprised of twenty five distinct communities scattered across two million square kilometres. Longitudinally, Nunavut stretches as far east as Halifax, and as far west as Vancouver. Each of our twenty-five community is distinct, and this shines through in our diverse histories, our rich and varied dialects, our country food of choice, and, when it gets colder, the design of our parkas.

Increasingly, the world is starting to recognize what we have always known – that Nunavut is a pretty special place. Not only that, we are now the topic of many a world-wide debate. Climate change, sovereignty, melting ice caps, polar bear: people from Timmins to Turkestan are weighing in on issues that affect our daily lives. The world-wide web has enabled people to learn more about the North than ever before, without leaving the comfort of their living rooms. More and more, people are moving away from a North based on myth and imagination to one rooted much more firmly in reality. All that being said, without spending a significant amount of time in the North, it is impossible to truly understand our needs and the issues that affect us. For instance, I have met many people who are surprised to learn that there isn’t a single road or rail that connects our twenty-five communities; that air links offer our only year-round connection; and, while sea-lifts filled with freight visit us each summer, we have yet to enjoy the benefits of a deep water port in our territory.

We are here today because we all care deeply about Nunavut’s future, because we all recognize the vast potential of the territory, and because Canada’s claim to a sovereign North is intrinsically tied to the health and well-being of its people. As I tell Prime Minister Harper whenever I have the chance, our Arctic sovereignty depends not on the lines drawn on a map, but on the people who live and thrive within our borders. And it is no great secret: to thrive, the North needs access to the services and infrastructure that most southern jurisdictions take for granted.

And, most of all, the North needs to become self-sufficient.

I recently saw a population graph for Nunavut, and despite my familiarity with the numbers, the illustration was still staggering. To visualize the graph, imagine the mirror opposite of most other population graphs across our country: a massive spike in our young population, and a steady decline in the number of our Elders. We have a phenomenal number of youth in our territory – in fact 50% of our population is under the age of 25.

And as our population grows, so do our needs. Our population could be a tremendous resource to us as we build our territory into the future, but only if the needs of our youth can be met today.

Up here in the North, we simply do not enjoy the infrastructure found in other parts of the country. And this gap is compromising our ability to grow. For instance, our waters are rich with char, turbot, and shrimp that are being celebrated by chefs around the world. However, because we have no docks or large scale freezer plants, our fish are landed offshore, with most of them processed either in southern Canada or outside the country.

Our local boaters, hunters, fishermen, and harvesters who feed their families from our waters, are extremely dependant on weather and tides for their safety and the security of their food supply. As the climate changes and weather becomes more difficult to predict, it is essential that our communities provide boaters with comprehensive mapping and a safe refuge against storms. Each of our communities needs a harbor.

We are celebrating the completion of one harbor in Pangnirtung.

Results of a test fishery undertaken this year have confirmed the potential for an inshore fishery in our waters. This gives us hope that this development will be followed by others.

Another example: Within our borders there are billions of dollars of mineral resources. Gold, silver, iron, zinc, copper, diamonds, and rare earths show up in geological maps across our territory. However, development of reserves in the Slave Geologic Province, in our Kitikmeot

Region, have ebbed and flowed over the years. The missing component? A road reaching into the region, and a port for incoming supplies and the export of ore through Bathurst Inlet.

I recently met with Premier Selinger in Rankin Inlet to discuss another source of untapped potential: the Kivalliq region. This area offers the most feasible land connection to the rest of Canada through a Nunavut-Manitoba road. This development would not only provide us with year round access to move heavy goods, it would bring with it the possibility of hydro generation, and a possible connection to the North American power grid.

Those of you who have listened to me before will know that I often return to this idea of “Completing the Map of Canada.” More than a century ago, Canada was being built from east to west. Roads, rail, ports, and later air strips, information technology, and mapping were all the most basic building blocks of our country. The east and west coasts have benefitted from specific programs to assist in building harbours, wharves, boat launches, fish plants, ports, marshalling areas, ferry docks, and cargo terminals. Comprehensive marine charts and up to date navigational aids are now the norm for our southern neighbours.

“Coast to coast” is a familiar motto for most Canadians, and yet it isolates precisely our problem. Here in the north, we like to use the phrase

“coast to coast to coast.” Until Canada can provide the north with the strategic infrastructure enjoyed by the rest of the country, we will continue to be the forgotten coast, and our map will remain incomplete.

While I believe that Canada has a certain responsibility to build the

North, I am a strong advocate that we must one day stand on our own two feet. Today a federal Minister in the south has the final say on over 80% of

Nunavut’s land. Given the potential of our natural resources and our young vibrant population, we must move toward devolution if we are to one day become self-sufficient. Devolution, or the transfer of provincial powers of self-determination to our territory, will allow us to make decisions that affect our land, and reap the benefits of our work.

Until devolution is realized, Nunavut must continue to do its part. In order to access Nunavut’s economic potential, we are making key investments in our human capital, especially our youth. The Government of Nunavut is doing this through our work on the reduction of poverty, through early childhood education, and through skills development. In recent years, Nunavut has seen a promising increase in the number of high school graduates, and I’m sure over the next ten years these bright and ambitious young people will transform Nunavut’s economy.

To do this, Nunavut’s high school graduates will need to pursue further education and skills training. I recently toured the new Nunavut

Trades Training Centre in Rankin Inlet and I am looking forward to seeing its first class graduate with the skills needed for our expanding economy.

And there will be plenty of jobs for these graduates. In the next decade we could see five new mines open in Nunavut. Currently an estimated 400 Nunavummiut are employed at the Meadowbank mine and in businesses serving the mine. With an increasingly skilled local workforce, five new mines will mean hundreds of new jobs for our residents.

Despite the inherent challenges of building our territory – the large area, the short building season, the small population – I am optimistic and excited about our future. I have no doubt that we will move from being a

“have not” territory to being a “have” territory; a territory that contributes to

Canada’s economy, as well as to its sovereignty.

The hard reality is that building the North will ultimately take more money than any one government, organization or private business can offer. A few weeks ago, my cabinet met for our annual retreat. One of the lines repeated often throughout our meetings was “partnership.” Working in isolation, we will continue to struggle to fill our infrastructure gaps, but together, there are so many possibilities.

A recent example is the AWG arena here in . A re-opening ceremony will be taking place later today (I will be changing into my hockey jersey once we’re finished here). Iqaluit, Nunavut and Canada each contributed to make this happen. And without this partnership, we would still be waiting to lace up our skates.

I would also like to thank the organizers who recognize the need for collaboration if we are to build the North that we all envision for the future. It has been a real pleasure to speak with you today, and I wish you all the best for your conference. Qujannamiik, Merci, Thank you.