The Community Readiness Initiative in Kugluktuk, Nunavut: Mining, Neoliberalism, and State Interventions in Arctic Indigenous Community Development
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The Community Readiness Initiative in Kugluktuk, Nunavut: Mining, neoliberalism, and state interventions in arctic Indigenous community development by Dana Holtby A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2016, Holtby Abstract With a growing number of mining and extractive resource projects across the North, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency has piloted the “Community Readiness Initiative” (CRI). The CRI aims to prepare communities to take advantage of the anticipated boom in mining through community consultations in seven northern communities. This thesis examines the Kugluktuk, Nunavut CRI through an analysis of CRI templates, reports, and through interviews with key informants. The CRI templates are examined through the questions of critical cartography to explore how the project’s construction contributes to an entrenchment of the mining economy in Nunavut. The governmental and biopolitical implications of the project are also explored through an analysis of the limitations faced in implementing the recommendations of the CRI consultations. My work argues that the CRI creates certain openings for Indigenous articulations of well-being, but falls short in its ability to create much needed structural changes to development programming. ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge that this thesis was written on unceded Algonquin Territory. Unreserved thanks are due to my supervisor Dr. Emilie Cameron and interim supervisor Dr. Gita Ljubicic. Emilie, you have been a mentor and steadfast example of how to root academic work in community, in care, and in kindness. Thank you for the many cups of tea and the thought provoking conversations that came with them. I’m so grateful for your ability to push my thinking in such supportive ways. Gita, thank you for stepping in to provide much needed guidance and structure. Without you I would not have made it to the finish line. Thank you for your patience and ability to make sense of the inner workings of my messy mind. There aren’t enough thanks in this world for the good work that the both of you do. I’m so grateful to the many people who talked me through early chapter attempts and read through initial (and the many subsequent) drafts. Thanks in particular to Dr. Jennifer Ridgley for your careful edits, encouraging pep talks, and guidance through my writing struggles. Thank you also to Dr. Fran Klowdasky and Dr. Arn Keeling for your revisions and thoughtful questions in the final stages. To those on the Kugluktuk team, particularly Dr. Chelsea Gabel and April Pigalak. Chelsea, thank you for your guidance and friendship on our project in Kug, and for your support (and keen editing skills) with my thesis work. April, thank you for taking me into your home and for your relentless hard work. Thank you to all the kind folks at the Canadian Northern Economic Agency, the Government of Nunavut, and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, for allowing me into your iii offices and entertaining my (at times naïve) questions about the North. This work would not have been possible without your input. I must of course also give thanks to the funding agencies that made this work possible: the SSHRC Joseph M. Bombardier Master’s Scholarship, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Northern Scientific Training Program, and the Carleton Geography department. I am indebted to a great number of brilliant minds in the Carleton community: Dr. Pablo Mendez, Dr. Christopher Burn, Dr. Frances Abele, Dr. Janet Tamalik McGrath and Joshua Gladstone – thank you for supportive chats and for sharing your extensive knowledge in kind and caring ways. To the many folks in Yellowknife – Tee, Rosanna, Nick. I’m so grateful for the hospitality and the continued friendship. I’d also like to give thanks to Dr. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Dr. Glen Coulthard, and Dr. Erin Freeland Ballantyne, for the opportunity to attend the Indigenous Self-Determination course at Dechinta. The lessons from that humbling week at Blachford lodge will stay with me for years to come. To the folks at home! Jill and Melissa - my truest Geography buddies. Thank you for keeping me going at Carleton. To Maggie for showing me that completion was possible and for your company on long writing days. To Lee, Abby, and all my Ottawa Roller Derby gals for keeping me on track (both figuratively and literally) when school got to be too much. A thank you also to my close friends living afar who provided consistent support and encouragement, particularly Zoë Page and Rosie Simms. iv A big thank you to my parents and family for your understanding, acceptance of my frantic phone calls in times of stress, and support through my many years of schooling. Finally, a thank you to my dear Jesse. You are a consistent support and a role model to me in your compassion and curiosity. My life and academic work are so strengthened by your care, companionship, and delicious dinners. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables .................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures .................................................................................................................... x List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xi List of Abbreviations: ..................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Development in the North - The Community Readiness Initiative .......... 13 1.1 Research questions ..................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Research rationale ...................................................................................................... 16 1.3 The Origins of CanNor .............................................................................................. 17 1.4 The Community Readiness Initiative ....................................................................... 19 1.5 Research site................................................................................................................ 24 1.6 Thesis Overview .......................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 The Place of Mines – State development interventions in Nunavut ......... 28 2.1 The Nunavut Land Claim and the Creation of Nunavut ........................................ 34 2.2 Mining and Community Impacts .............................................................................. 39 2.3 Mining in Nunavut ..................................................................................................... 40 2.4 Mining in Kugluktuk .................................................................................................. 45 2.5 The Rise of Consultation and the Role of IIBAs ...................................................... 48 2.6 The CRI: making the most of the mines to come ..................................................... 51 vi Chapter 3 Working in and on the CRI - Research Methods ...................................... 52 3.1 Research Context ........................................................................................................ 52 3.2 Research Methods ...................................................................................................... 54 3.3 On being a consultant/academic and the limitations of my research approach ... 57 3.4 Governmentality ......................................................................................................... 59 3.5 Neoliberalism, Biopolitics and the Structuring of Development ............................ 61 3.6 Neoliberalism and Development in Indigenous Communities ................................ 63 3.7 On research limitations and studying the state ........................................................ 65 Chapter 4 “Money is a Coward” - Mapping certainty and silences in the CRI ....... 67 4.1 The Questions of Critical Cartography .................................................................... 68 4.2 CRI Maps at First Glance .......................................................................................... 74 4.3 Mapping Certainty ..................................................................................................... 84 4.4 The CRI’s silences ...................................................................................................... 93 4.5 Gaps in the Making: categories left unknown in the CRI templates ..................... 95 4.6 Filling the map’s silences: The Kugluktuk CRI ...................................................... 96 4.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 104 Chapter 5 “The low hanging fruit” - the biopolitics of development programming implementation .............................................................................................................