Northern Public Affairs

Volume 1 Special Issue 2013

Building our future together DAVE RAMSAY

Co-managing the future? HAYDEN KING

The Northern economy: Lessons from industry DON BUBAR

Economic development: Striking the right balance STEPHEN KAKFWI PATHWAYS TO The economy, governance, PROSPERITY & social suffering STEPHANIE IRLBACHER-FOX The Northern

Dechinta Bush University Governance & Economy Student Plenary: A report COLE SMITH Conference & DARCY LEIGH

Resource wealth: Northwest Territories Premier BOB MCLEOD Opportunities & challenges on devolution & economic prosperity DIANA GIBSON An interview with TOMMY PALLISER on Inukjuak’s Pathways to homelessness JULIA CHRISTENSEN innovative Unaaq Men’s Association

FRANCES ABELE on challenges in understanding northernpublicaffairs.ca the new Northern economy “The decision to sign the Agreement in Principle is ours, and ours alone.”

— Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Eddie Erasmus, after announcing that the Tłı̨chǫ Government would be a signatory to the Devovultion Agreement in Principle, Feburary 28, 2013. Northern Public Affairs Special Issue 2013 FEATURES

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Pathways to prosperity 5

MESSAGE FROM THE CO-CHAIRS Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Willard Hagen, 7 & Stephen Kakfwi

OVERHEARD Statement by NWT MLA Daryl Dolynny 9

NORTHERN VOICES Devolution & economic prosperity 10 Premier Bob McLeod

Building our future together 16 Minister Dave Ramsay

Beyond health care 20 Dr. Anna Reid

Economic development 22 Stephen Kakfwi

ARTICLES GOVERNANCE ECONOMY Co-managing the future? 27 Resource wealth: 43 Hayden King Opportunities & challenges Diana Gibson EDUCATION Dechinta Bush University Student Plenary 32 SOCIETY Cole Smith & Darcy Leigh The economy, governance, & social suffering 48 Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox ECONOMY The Northern economy: 35 THE ESSAY Lessons from industry Pathways to homelessness 51 Don Bubar Julia Christensen

ECONOMY IN CONVERSATION Challenges in understanding 38 Raising-up hunters & protectors once again: 54 the Northern Economy The Unaaq Men’s Assocation Frances Abele Stephanie Irblacher-Fox & Tommy Palliser Northern Public Affairs Volume 1 Special Issue 2013

Guest Editors Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox Hayden King

Founding Editors Joshua Gladstone Sheena Kennedy Jerald Sabin

Advisory Board Frances Abele (Cantley, Québec) Joanne Barnaby (Hay River, Northwest Territories) Kenn Harper (Iqaluit, Nunavut) Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories) Mary Ellen Thomas (Iqaluit, Nunavut) Valoree Walker (Whitehorse, Yukon) Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (Iqaluit, Nu navut)

Copy Editors Kyle Kirkup

Layout Design Jerald Sabin

Northern Public Affairs is made possible by the generous support of the Northern research community.

Supporters

Aurora Research Institute Nunavut Research Institute (Aurora College) (Nunavut Arctic College)

Carleton Centre for Community Innovation Yukon Research Centre (Carleton University) (Yukon College)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via email to northernpublicaf- [email protected], or by mail to Northern Public Affairs P.O. Box 517, Stn. B, Ottawa, ON CANADA K1P 5P6. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. All letters become property of Northern Public Affairs and will not be returned.

VOLUME 1, SPECIAL ISSUE, March 11, 2013. NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (ISSN pending) is published three times a year by Northern Public Affairs. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Visit www.northernpublicaffairs.ca/index.

NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS IS A TRADEMARK OF NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. COPYRIGHT ©2013 NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN CANADA. FEATURES DELINE Photo credit: Morris Neyelle. Photo credit: Morris

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, circa 1980. LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Pathways to prosperity

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox & Hayden King, Guest Editors Photo credit: MorrisPhoto credit: Neyelle. hat a conference! It was the type of gath- of the economy. However it was the personal — the ering where conversations at breaks were human — dimension, that caught our attention and aboutW polar bear hunting or the utility of Facebook that we’ve also included here. in advancing discussion about social policy. In fact, For all of the North’s dependence on a re- those were also some topics on the formal agenda of source extraction economy and the potential ben- the conference! So the conference was unique, to say efits it may bring, the lived experience in the NWT the least. Unique not only in content, but also struc- seems to be this: those benefits are not felt in a sus- ture — bringing together community members, po- tained, positive way in the small communities out- litical and business leaders, and academics — rare side of Yellowknife. We heard about the atrocious connections made in a format that in retrospect is housing conditions, people without the cash to feed absolutely critical to a “big picture” understanding their children, schools that are dilapidated and un- that the Pathways to Prosperity: Northern Gover- derstaffed, parents demoralized and desperate: for nance and Economy Conference attempted to de- jobs, for a house, for a break. The NWT’s resource velop. dependence has created a boom and bust economy. This special issue of Northern Public Affairs rep- And it is likely that people will suffer. Even in this resents our efforts to distill and crystallize the conver- period of boom and excitement surrounding large- sations emerging from this unique and educational scale resource extraction projects, there is the very conference. Broadly disseminating the conference real possibility that little will change with respect to results through NPA seemed an obvious partnership: the desperate circumstances we see in small commu- the magazine provides a much — needed forum for nities. Yet, there are alternative possibilities. analysis, discussion and debate on issues that occur Flowing from these personal stories was a cor- in, or affect, the North. The content of this spe- responding theme of resilience and community ac- cial issue focuses on elements of the “big picture” tion: community members talking about their situ- insights about many large-scale processes currently ation and what they are willing to do about it. We unfolding, such as the transformation of governance heard about the aforementioned Facebook pages institutions and the even more rapid transformation established to highlight housing (and related) chal- A scene from the Sahtu, Northwest Territories, 2012.

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 5 lenges. We heard about community efforts to create voters — to think about and maybe even act upon. telecommunications infrastructure. We heard about While the Issue makes ample room for articles about Dene, Gwich’in and Kasho Got’ine efforts to build managing the Northern economy, jurisdiction over economic and cultural independence, and about a resources, land claim settlements, and so on, it also land-based university focused on decolonizing ed- focuses on the often overlooked but critically import- ucation and reinforcing connections to the land. ant human dimension. The implication of this, as People are doing what they can. These are ordinary one of the articles in this issue notes, is that it might people faced with extraordinary hardships and ob- be time to re-evaulate what we consider “prosperity” stacles. Their responses are as creative as they are in the North.◉ inspiring. But they could use help. Political leaders and other officials might put Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox is a Research Associate with safeguards in place — tested, common sense, do- the Institute of Circumpolar Health Research in Yellowknife able safeguards. These might include a permanent and also holds appointments as an Assistant Professor at the stabilization fund; innovation funding programs that University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health have only one criteria - communities addressing their and the Department of Political Science. She is a Research needs in their own ways; revisiting royalty rates; and Associate with the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the fixing our system of governance. All of the above, University of Alberta; and a Research Associate at the Ste- and more, were solutions identified at our Confer- fansson Arctic Institute, Iceland. ence and could go some ways to helping those alien- ated from the benefits of the current boom. Hayden King is Anishinaabe and Assisant Professor of We’ve included some of these novel ideas in Political Science at Ryerson University. this special issue of Northern Public Affairs. General- ly this Issue details problems, innovations, solutions, and many, many options for policy makers — and SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Three issues for $28 (plus GST/HST where applicable)

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First issue mails Spring 2013. Subscribe online at www.Northernpublicaffairs.ca. Mail to: Northern Public Affairs P.O. Box 517, Stn. B, Ottawa, ON CANADA K1P 5P6 NORTHERN GOVERNANCE & ECONOMY CONFERENCE Message from the Co-chairs

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Willard Hagen & Stephen Kakfwi Photo credit: NorthernPhoto credit: Economy and Governance Conference. he Northern Governance and Economy Con- speeches that touched on issues such as economic ference was held in part to bring together the development, social determinants of health, educa- diverseT players essential to the health and future tion and Indigenous youth, and policy implications of our economy, here in the Northwest Territories. of resource-based economies. Academics, community activists, government offi- Seeing all of this through the eyes of Indigenous cials, students, and Indigenous representatives were peoples living in the small, often fly-in communities brought together to talk about the relationship be- of the Northwest Territories forced participants to tween governance and social and economic wellness. think about these issues in different ways. Frances Over three days the participants covered top- Wolki from Paulatuk, who started a Facebook page ics as diverse as the environmental and social im- advocating for safe and affordable housing in her pacts of fracking to the implications of devolution community, bring forward some of the challenges and regulatory reform for the future of the NWT community people are now facing. The housing sit- economy. Discussions were punctuated with keynote uation is getting desperate, food is often too expen- Co-Chairs Willard Hagen, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, and Stephen Kakfwi in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, 2012. sive to buy in communities where unemployment tified as the need to target the sources of the social and poverty is rampant, and the impacts of resource suffering prevalent in communities across the North- extraction projects threaten to drive up living costs west Territories. She suggested that policies predi- even more while also interrupting wildlife migra- cated on colonization — state control and decision tions and consequently the ability for people to go making being privileged over the rights and author- out on the land to feed their families. As Co-chair ity of Indigenous peoples — will continue to pro- Willard Hagen mentioned in his opening remarks, duce suffering, no matter the efforts to combat so- wage earners provide the much needed resources to cial ills through other means. These sentiments were purchase hunting supplies. One working person can echoed by the President of the Canadian Medical support four other families. Of course, considering Association, Yellowknife physician Anna Reid, who spoke about the criti- cal link between social determinants of health and economic prosper- The conference has started a conversation. It has led to a ity: they are indivisible. For conference par- heightened awareness that we hope shape policy choices for ticipants, the discussion and various panel pre- the long-term benefit of the people of the sentations over the three Northwest Territories. days in Yellowknife provided an overview of current research on critical issues affecting the North. Moreover, this reveals a paradox. In some cases wages to sup- the insights and experiences of community mem- port hunting may come from the very resource ex- bers hopefully forced those in attendance to re-think traction projects that irrevocably change migration both the approaches to policy-making in the North routes (often long after projects have been shut down as well as the potential impacts of social and eco- and companies have moved on). nomic initiatives over the long term. During his talk, co-chair Stephen Kakfwi called The conference has started a conversation. It for a return to policies of compassion, where com- has led to a heightened awareness that we hope will munication and relationships are the foundation of shape policy choices for the long-term benefit of the decision making and where major decisions shaping people of the Northwest Territories.◉ governance and the economy are ones where all governments in the Northwest Territories, Indig- Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox is a Research Associate with enous and public, are working toward shared pri- the Institute of Circumpolar Health Research in Yellowknife orities in a cooperative and respectful way. In part, and also holds appointments as an Assistant Professor at the he said this requires standing up for the people and University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health their interests. The reality is that this may not always and the Department of Political Science; Research Associate align with business. However at the same time, it is with the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University important to recognize that in many cases industry of Alberta; and Research Associate at the Stefansson Arctic is working on improving the relationship. Both Ab- Institute, Iceland. original and non-Aboriginal businesses are engaging in innovative and respectful approaches to meeting Willard Hagen is of Gwich’in ancestry and was born in the stated interests of communities regarding eco- Tsiigehtchic and raised in the Travaillant River area. He nomic development and control over its direction. completed his formal education in Wildlife Management in Equity stakes in projects, impact benefit agreements, Inuvik. Mr. Hagen established Aklak Air in the late 1970s and training programs are all efforts that conference and has been a bush pilot and owner/operator for 30 years. participants had opportunities to discuss using re- cent examples in the NWT. Stephen Kakfwi served as the ninth Premier of the North- Finally, co-chair Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox noted west Territories (2000-2003), and as Dene Nation Presi- that innovation is key to a prosperous future in the dent (1983-1987). North and must also be coupled with what she iden-

8 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 OVERHEARD Statement by NWT MLA Daryl Dolynny Northern Affairs. Public Photo credit: Photo credit: ernments work together in the best interests of all people of the Northwest Territories, while exercising their own authorities and respecting each other’s ju- risdiction.” I commend the Premier for his consistent and strong message on behalf of the 17th Assembly. I was also taken back by the size and the scope of the conference topics such as social suffering, man- aging and creating capacity, fracking, resource man- On October 19, 2012 Mr. Daryl Donlynny (Range Lake) agement and economic wellness. It was clear that the spoke about the Northern Governance and Economy Confer- overarching theme of finding pathways to prosper ence during his Member’s Statement. was indeed befitting, given the economic setbacks faced by many in the Northwest Territories. One par- hank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week in Yel- ticular session I attended was called “Can territorial T lowknife I had the pleasure of attend- government foster economic wellness?” Particularly ing the Northern Governance and Econom- interesting was the premise that one could measure ic Prosperity Conference that brought together our economy by virtue of its wellness or social well- Indigenous Northern government, business ness. In essence, these governments that strive for leaders, policymakers, social activists and econ- strong social wellness behaviour had a much better omists under the theme Pathways to Prosperity. capacity for achieving a stronger economic future; The premise of the conference was to reflect a simple message but a very meaningful outcome. on Northern political institutions that could change Finding ways to balance amidst poverty, po- to better adapt to various governance authorities litical development and economic opportuni- while balancing the social and economic challeng- ty is no small feat. Yet, I believe this conference es. This was a tall task, but I must praise the work captured quite nicely all the major roadblocks of the conference co-chairs, Mr. Willard Hagen, at work while keeping a lens on prosperity. Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox and our former Pre- Mr. Speaker, again, my congratulations for all mier Mr. Stephen Kakfwi for an outstanding job. the hard work behind the scenes in preparing for Both our Premier and Minister Ramsay had such a large-scale and successful conference. The keynote addresses to the conference delegates. One delegates have all returned home and I know that key line that resonated well by Premier McLeod was: many of them are using their newly minted tools “We want a territory where strong Northern gov- for a better Northwest Territories. Thank you.◉

Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, October 2012. NORTHERN VOICES Devolution & economic prosperity

Premier Bob McLeod

hank you, I would like to welcome you to ing on mineral exploration was up by 30 percent last this conference on Northern governance and year and is expected to grow again. There are sev- Tthe economy on behalf of the Government of the en projects currently in the works, including Avalon Northwest Territories. I am pleased to see so many Rare Metals’ Thor Lake project, which is the larg- people here with an interest in the long term eco- est rare earth deposit outside China. Together, these nomic and social well-being of the people of the seven projects could attract more than $2 billion in Northwest Territories. new investment and add over 2000 new jobs in the We live in 33 communities spread over several Northwest Territories. regions. We share the territory with seven regional We export $2 billion in diamonds annually and Aboriginal governments. We all have our own man- have seen increased production at Diavik and Snap dates, priorities and interests unique to each of our Lake. With Gahcho Kue on the horizon and global groups. Sometimes our individual priorities align demand for diamonds in China and India strong, we with each other and sometimes it is more difficult to can expect this sector to remain an important part find consensus on specific issues. of the Northwest Territories economy. No matter where we live or what group we And of course, there is our oil and gas sector. represent, we all want to see a prosperous, self-suf- Approximately 16.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas ficient territory that provides opportunities for all and 1.2 billion barrels of oil have already been dis- Northwest Territories residents in their communi- covered in our territory. This is only a small part of ties and regions. We want a territory where people our estimated potential of 81 trillion cubic feet of are healthy and educated and free from poverty and natural gas and nearly 7 billion barrels of oil. addictions. We want a territory where Northerners In addition, there are substantial offshore re- make the decisions about the things that affect us. serves of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. We want a territory where our environment is pro- Less than a year ago, the federal government issued tected and a strong economy provides the financial 11 exploration licenses in the Sahtu representing resources we need to fund programs and services, $534.2 million in work bids for this world class play. look after our land and care for our residents. And And since 2008 industry committed to spend $2.1 we want a territory where strong Northern govern- billion to develop offshore leases in the Beaufort Sea. ments work together in the best interests of all the Our government also continues to support the people of the Northwest Territories, while exercis- development of the Mackenzie Gas Project, a proj- ing their own authorities and respecting each other’s ect of national significance that could contribute jurisdiction. $68 million to the Northwest Territories economy, And we can have these things. The Northwest $86 billion to the Canadian economy and create Territories has the potential to be a prosperous, over 200,000 person years of employment. self-sufficient territory that is a net contributor to The proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway will the Canadian economy. The Conference Board of realize the long-held goal of connecting Canada Canada recently reported that Canada’s Northern from sea to sea to sea. It would open up our com- territories will lead the country in economic growth munities and help promote the development of a over the next two years. diversified and sustainable economy along its route. The Northwest Territories’ economy is forecast We think this project will benefit the people of the to grow by more than seven percent in 2012 and Northwest Territories and have already committed 2013 — well above the Canadian average of two money to begin work on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk percent. portion of the highway, in partnership with the Gov- With development of the Mackenzie Gas Pipe- ernment of Canada. line, the Conference Board predicts that our GDP Yet while we are a territory of tremendous op- will rise to $9.6 billion by 2020. portunity, it is our unique Northern irony that we We have a wealth of mineral potential. Spend- also face tremendous challenges. In spite of this

10 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Photo credit: LegislativePhoto credit: of Assembly the Northwest Territories. The Honourable Bob McLeod potential wealth, the people of the Northwest Ter- is examining. ritories still struggle with unemployment, poverty, Economic development and social development housing and infrastructure challenges and high cost go hand-in-hand. A prosperous territory is a territo- of living. ry that has the resources to fund the programs that These are challenges that we need to address if will help our people realize their own aspirations we want to realize our potential and set ourselves and to live in dignity. Working to create a strong, di- on the pathways to prosperity that this conference versified and sustainable economy that provides op- portunities and benefits to all our residents in their more of their responsibilities to elected Members of communities and regions is a key goal for the Gov- the Executive Council, until — in 1986 — the Com- ernment of the Northwest Territories. missioner turned the Chair over to the then-Govern- Development of our natural resources has the ment Leader. potential to improve the lives of our residents and While our government became truly responsi- make the Northwest Territories a “have” jurisdic- ble to an elected Assembly in 1986, the powers of tion, but it must be managed properly. We need to that Assembly were still limited to specific areas. make sure that our people are the primary benefi- Control over education, health care, forestry and ciaries of development in the Northwest Territories highways have been devolved to the Government of and we need to make sure we are able to control and the Northwest Territories over the years since 1986. mitigate potentially negative impacts. The last major authority to be devolved is by far the Our experience shows us that this is possible. most important to us — and has proven to be the In recent years, the Government of the Northwest most difficult to attain. Territories has worked hard to ensure that resource Unlike the provinces and Yukon, the people of development in our territory creates benefits for our the Northwest Territories do not control their own people. We have negotiated socioeconomic agree- public lands and resources, including rights in re- ments with the diamond mines that have helped en- spect of water. Decisions on whether and how to sure that our residents enjoy a share of the benefits develop public lands and resources in the Northwest of development. We have supported the negotiation Territories are still made by the Government of of impact benefit agreements with local Aboriginal Canada. Resource royalties from that development communities. flow straight to Ottawa, rather than directly benefit- Development of our resources can be one of ing the people of the Northwest Territories. the pathways to prosperity for our territory. And While the Government of the Northwest Terri- that means that development must be sustainable. It tories has assumed responsibility for all other areas must be consistent with Northern priorities and val- of province-like jurisdiction, responsibility for lands ues. And development must be managed by North- and resources, including water, remains beyond our erners for Northerners. grasp. We believe the transfer of this responsibility Getting management right means getting gov- from Canada to our government is overdue. ernance right. Unless we have devolution, decisions about how We need political and regulatory institutions Northern lands and resources are developed will that give the people of the Northwest Territories a continue to be made in Ottawa. We may have a real opportunity to make decisions about the things voice in the decision-making process, but being one that affect them. We need to find ways to work to- of many voices is not the same thing as being the gether with Aboriginal governments to identify ones who make the decision. Without devolution, we shared priorities and create a consensus on how we can never be sure that decisions to develop Northern move forward in the best interests of our residents. land and resources will be consistent with Northern And, most importantly, we need to secure Northern priorities. control over the public lands and resources that form We will not be able to ensure that we, the peo- the basis of our future wealth and prosperity. ple who live here, are the ones who benefit the most As we consider how to create a prosperous fu- from those decisions. ture for ourselves, I think it is important that we also Devolution of lands and resources, including look to our past. rights in respect of water, to a more local, responsi- Understanding how our political institutions ble and accountable territorial government will re- have evolved will inform our vision for the future sult in decisions that better reflect the priorities and governance of the Northwest Territories. For years, goals of the people of the North. Devolution will be territorial affairs were governed by a Commission- the key to ensuring that development in the North- er in Ottawa and an appointed Council of advisors west Territories is controlled by Northerners and is who were federal government employees. in the best interests of all our residents. It was not until 1975 that all members of the For more than ten years now, the Government council were elected by Northwest Territories resi- of the Northwest Territories has been working with dents. The Council was officially renamed the Leg- the regional Aboriginal governments to negotiate a islative Assembly at this time. devolution agreement with Canada. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Commis- Four out of seven Aboriginal governments in sioner and Deputy Commissioner began to transfer the Northwest Territories have joined our govern-

12 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 ment and the Government of Canada in signing the release of our Aboriginal Engagement Strategy, the Devolution Agreement-in-Principle first signed Respect, Recognition, Responsibility, which sets out in January 2011. We are having active discussions eight principles of engagement that our government with the remaining three Aboriginal Governments. is committed to: Negotiations are now nearing their end and we look • We recognize and affirm the Aboriginal and Trea- forward to concluding a final agreement on devolu- ty rights of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples in the first tion shortly. principle. The transfer of responsibility for public lands • We recognize the inherent right of self-government and resources from Canada to the Government of as an existing Aboriginal right under section 35 of the Northwest Territories will be a significant de- the Constitution Act, 1982. velopment in the history of Northern governance. • We commit to building mutually respectful govern- In some ways, devolution will mark the beginning ment-to-government relationships. • We recognize all existing Aboriginal Right Agree- of a new phase in the continuing story of political ments and commit to using them as the basis for en- evolution that has characterized the history of our gagement with Aboriginal governments. territory. • We respect the diverse governance structures of After devolution, the Government of the North- Northwest Territories Aboriginal governments and west Territories will be one of several governments we will be open in engaging with the different gov- in our territory with an interest in how Northern ernments and communities that exist within each lands and resources are managed, protected and de- region. veloped. Regional Aboriginal governments will have • We commit to building responsible and accountable their own interests and priorities, as well as jurisdic- government-to-government relationships that are re- tion over their own lands. sponsive and flexible. As part of our devolution negotiations, we have There are also principles with respect to sharing committed to formalizing an intergovernmental information and knowledge, helping to build capac- relationship that will allow the Government of the ity, enhancing our government’s participation at an- Northwest Territories and Aboriginal Governments nual general assemblies and other important events, to work together on land and water management. and establishing regular formal meetings with each This will let us work co-operatively together in a Aboriginal government in the Northwest Territories. way that respects our individual jurisdiction, but also In our eighth and final principle, we continue recognizes that we have many common interests as our commitment to working with Aboriginal gov- Northern governments, while making sure we serve ernments to ensure responsible stewardship over the best interests of all our residents. Northwest Territories lands, water and air. While we understand and respect that some Ab- We are determined to create conditions for suc- original governments do not feel that they can sign cess that work to the benefit of all Northwest Ter- the AIP and participate in the devolution process ritories residents. We are actively negotiating and now, this does not mean we cannot work together in settling land claims, and creating certainty of rights other areas. and process for Aboriginal people. Co-operation has long been a tradition in the I am not going to stand here today and say that North. In a harsh environment with few people, you we have all the answers. The evolution of gover- need to be able to pull together and rely on your nance in the Northwest Territories is very much a neighbours for survival. Working together has al- work in progress. We will continue to look for new ways been the way Northerners have done things and innovative approaches that will help us build a and it continues to be the way that the Government strong and prosperous future for our residents based of the Northwest Territories does business. on strong working relationships with Aboriginal gov- We lead the country in ongoing and formal en- ernments, community governments, non-govern- gagement with regional Aboriginal governments. mental organizations, business, and industry. We are the only jurisdiction in Canada to have gov- I hope your discussions are productive and I ernment-to-government relations with our Aborigi- look forward to hearing more about them at the nal governments and it is reflected in all our activi- conclusion of your conference.◉ ties and operations. These activities all reflect our ongoing com- Premier Bob McLeod is the twelth Premier of the Northwest Terri- mitment to collaborative decision making and en- tories. He has served as MLA for Yellowknife South since 2007. gagement with our Aboriginal governments. This commitment was underscored this past June with

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 13 DELINE Photo credit: Morris Neyelle. Photo credit: Morris

Spring. DELINE Photo credit: MorrisPhoto credit: Neyelle.

Northern lights, 2012. NORTHERN VOICES Building our future together

Minister Dave Ramsay

ood afternoon to all of you here today and evolution. We need only to look around this room to thank you for the invitation to speak on this see all of the different players that must contribute Glast day of the conference. to the sound governance of our Territory. By defi- We have a world of opportunity within our nition, good governance is participatory, consensus grasp — now, more than ever, is the time to pave the oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, ef- way to that opportunity, or the “Pathway to Prosper- fective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and fol- ity” as this event is so aptly themed. lows the rule of law. This week, we have had an opportunity to hear That is why it’s so important that all of you are from many people — respected Aboriginal leaders, here today — representing such a broad range of community role models and people from various lev- interests and providing feedback and input on where els of government. We have also had the opportuni- we are going and how we can get there. ty to learn from an academic perspective, and the We have heard that the first lesson in sound gov- case studies they have shared with this group are a ernance is to know your objective — what do we valuable way for us to learn from each other and im- want to achieve and how can we achieve it? As the portant to consider when working together to move GNWT Minister of Industry, Tourism and Invest- our economy forward. ment, I can tell you that the same is true of the econ- How appropriate it is to have a conference omy. about governance and the economy in the North. So what is the vision or the goal that guides our Here — more than anywhere else — they must be investment, our capacity building and our agen- considered together. Especially so in light of our da for economic development? Knowing that will overwhelming resource potential and ongoing land guide and focus our decision making — and in turn claim and self-government processes. Here, where — provide a context in which to evaluate these de- the authority to make decisions about the way pub- cisions. lic lands and resource revenues are managed is still The overarching vision of the 17th Legislative beyond our grasp. Assembly is to have strong individuals, families and When considering governance and the econo- communities sharing the benefits and responsibil- my, a host of questions comes to mind: ities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory. • What resources do we develop, and how do we en- sure they are developed sustainably? In terms of the economy, we have set the goal: • How do we continue to have a healthy economy after to establish a diversified economy that provides all diamonds? communities and regions with opportunities and • What dollar value do we give our traditional lands choices. and harvesting, and how does it compare to the pay We have set about to do this — in part — by cheque that comes with a wage economy? working with our partners to ensure responsible • How do we consider everyone’s input to reach a con- stewardship through our land and resource manage- sensus that will be mutually beneficial? And is there ment regime, by making sound strategic infrastruc- a middle ground that can be found? ture investments and by supporting the growth of • How do we find the best ways to work together to de- businesses and industries that will work to diversify volve decision making from the federal government? • What long-term objectives do we have for our econ- our economy. omy, our people and our future? That is why we are leading the development of an Economic Development Strategy. A sustainable These are tough questions that will require economic development strategy will give us the op- tough decisions — decisions that we need to make portunity to keep pace with the incredible growth in order to fully realize our true economic potential. potential that our territory has, to ensure we are po- Sound governance will be the key. But govern- sitioned to guide and manage this investment and ment and the GNWT is only one element of this growth, and to use it to build capacity in our com-

16 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, netus vivamus, felis sem vestibulum, in lobortis ligula vel amet. A feugiat ullamco ut aliquam eros malesuada, ali- quam sodales ligula, dui blandit consectetuer ut eu velit, laboris mauris officia enim etiam. Vel rhoncus pharetra, placerat rutrum pretium urna mi elemen- tum amet, consequat elit penatibus vestibulum nibh suspendisse suspendisse, platea facilisis pellentesque hymenaeos nec feugiat. Nisl quis sed hac quis tris- tique et, dolore dolor mattis lobortis. Sed sociosqu praesent est ridiculus. Pede nunc eleifend hendre- rit, sed nulla etiam magna, quam imperdiet quis et, habitasse accumsan ultricies magna, amet non curae leo pede. At non tempus ante hymenaeos pede, ac egestas dolor maecenas, ante vitae augue in. Rutrum suspendisse neque lectus morbi non malesuada. Ut habitant, accumsan vitae voluptatem orci commo- do nec feugiat. At nam volutpat, mi bibendum quis, magna phasellus pulvinar vivamus lobortis dolor, odio in dolor urna, mauris quis et sapien sit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, netus vivamus, felis sem vestibulum, in lobortis ligula vel amet. A feugiat ullamco ut aliquam eros malesuada, ali- quam sodales ligula, dui blandit consectetuer ut eu velit, laboris mauris officia enim etiam. Vel rhoncus pharetra, placerat rutrum pretium urna mi elemen- tum amet, consequat elit penatibus vestibulum nibh suspendisse suspendisse, platea facilisis pellentesque hymenaeos nec feugiat. Nisl quis sed hac quis tris- tique et, dolore dolor mattis lobortis. Sed sociosqu praesent est ridiculus. Pede nunc eleifend hendre- rit, sed nulla etiam magna, quam imperdiet quis et, habitasse accumsan ultricies magna, amet non curae leo pede. At non tempus ante hymenaeos pede, ac egestas dolor maecenas, ante vitae augue in. Rutrum suspendisse neque lectus morbi non malesuada. Ut habitant, accumsan vitae voluptatem orci commo- do nec feugiat. At nam volutpat, mi bibendum quis, magna phasellus pulvinar vivamus lobortis dolor, odio in dolor urna, mauris quis et sapien sit. Photo credit: LegislativePhoto credit: of Assembly the Northwest Territories. The Honourable Dave Ramsay. munities and self-sufficiency among our people. A long term plan for mineral development will This strategy is an investment in our economy as demonstrate certainty and stability during this time much as it is an investment in diversification. Yes, we of devolution negotiations and transition and serve have a wealth of resource potential, but we also need to increase industry confidence and exploration ex- to expand our tourism sector, explore additional op- penditures in our region. We only need to look at portunities for small businesses and consider how the activity going on in the Sahtu region to get an traditional activities such as hunting and trapping idea of what happens when development occurs. contribute to our economy. Employment is at an all-time high and businesses Care will be taken to ensure the strategy is re- are seeing their highest profits in years as a result of sponsive to changing economic circumstances in the industry exploration and local spending. territory, creates an increased awareness of business This initiative complements our work on a com- opportunities in all regions of the NWT, and recog- prehensive Economic Development Strategy. And, nizes the need to maintain sustainable development like the work we are completing on that project, the best practices. development of this strategy will be a collaborative It will also take into account that some commu- effort. nities in the NWT live and prefer a traditional life- For both strategies, we will work closely with style. For these communities, the focus of the strate- our partners and incorporate input from Aboriginal gy will be on self-sufficiency, such as finding ways to governments, communities, industry, small business- reduce imports — mainly fuel, increase local food es, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and North- production and to maintain and improve local hous- ern Development Canada, the NWT and Nunavut ing and other community services. Chamber of Mines, the Canadian Northern Eco- Also, we recognize that while we have a wealth nomic Development Agency, the Northern Aborig- of resources, our economy is often dependent on inal Business Association, the NWT Chamber of market forces beyond our control and vulnerable to Commerce, the NWT Association of Communities, boom and bust cycles. With this in mind, we are and NWT residents to ensure their long-term suc- also working to expand the nature and scope of our cess. This extensive engagement process will ensure resource development with a Mineral Development that all voices are heard and that these strategies can Strategy. work as a guide for all regions across the territory. Mineral exploration and development has driv- Many of you here today will be actively involved en our economy and presented us with unprecedent- in the development of these strategies to ensure they ed opportunities for investment, employment and are balanced and responsive to the needs of the peo- business development. This has been especially true ple we serve. for our Northern Aboriginal communities. We also know that infrastructure is essential for In fact, the mineral development sector employs economic development — infrastructure to support hundreds of NWT residents and results in more economic growth, infrastructure to prepare for nat- than half a billion dollars in annual purchases from ural resource development, and infrastructure to NWT businesses. connect our communities and increase access to es- A mineral development strategy will guide deci- sential goods and services. The Government of the sion-making for mineral development in the future. Northwest Territories is committed to improving the It will provide a framework to ensure our mineral lives of NWT residents through strategic infrastruc- resources continue to be developed in a way that ture investments. I would like to provide you with benefits NWT residents, ensures development is sus- some details on a few strategic infrastructure proj- tainable, and upholds our commitment to protect ects underway aimed at achieving this territory’s full the environment. potential. We must find the right balance between our As I said at the opening of the new Colville Lake need for development and our protection of the en- airport earlier this week, economic opportunities ac- vironment in which we live. company infrastructure development. Investing in Our approach so far has been to maximize the infrastructure stimulates job creation and makes our benefits of our resource development by building economy more competitive in the long term. business capacity in our communities, corporations As we speak here today, the finishing touches are and businesses, and investing in the education and being put on the Deh Cho Bridge. This will be the skill development of our youth who will eventually largest piece of transportation infrastructure in the guide its growth. We have had success in these areas, NWT. The historic opening will herald a new era of but we need a long-term plan. all-season access connecting the economic potential

18 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 on both sides of the river. build the economic capacity of our Territory and Another key piece of infrastructure is the pro- its people. If we acknowledge that improving the posed Mackenzie highway. Premier McLeod men- quality of decision making is essential for econom- tioned this during his address at the beginning of ic development, then developing governance of this this conference, but its importance cannot be over- scope and significance will be a true test of our col- stated. Once constructed, the Mackenzie Valley lective abilities to continue to provide the leadership Highway will run all the way from Alberta to Tuk- our territory needs. toyaktuk, and will be the first all-weather road to the None of us can do it alone. Instead we need to Arctic Ocean. The Mackenzie Valley all-weather high- The North needs development. Our social reality dictates that we way project will need to provide an economy on which to establish a vibrant and sus- enable our territo- ry to grow stronger tainable North. And, obviously, this development must be governed by and become more the people of the NWT. As much as we recognize zero development self-sustaining. The highway is not an option, zero Northern control is not an option either. will strengthen con- nections between our communities, significantly reduce the cost of apply this common economic objective and uncover doing business in the Mackenzie Valley, and increase our respective roles in governance. This includes the the opportunities for resource development in our federal government, Aboriginal governments, the Territory. It will facilitate other strategic infrastruc- Government of the Northwest Territories, industry ture projects, such as the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline and nongovernmental organizations. and the installation of a fibre optic cable, which The North needs development. Our social real- will share a common corridor with the highway’s ity dictates that we need to provide an economy on proposed alignment. Residents along the highway which to establish a vibrant and sustainable North. route will experience better access to essential ser- And, obviously, this development must be governed vices, increased mobility, a lower cost of living and by the people of the NWT. As much as we recognize increased economic development opportunities. zero development is not an option, zero Northern In a similar vein, Investments in the Inuvik-Tuk- control is not an option either. toyaktuk highway will help to support sustainable de- Premier Bob McLeod’s words on devolution velopment in the region, including oil and gas, and really ring true. Only when issues affecting North- mining projects. The Inuvik-Tuk highway points to west Territories residents are decided and dealt with a future in which our residents can expect to reap in the territory, can the people of the NWT have a the benefits of increased development in currently greater say in the decisions required to move devel- remote regions, supported by reliable, year-round opment forward. As I noted at the Sahtu exploration road access. readiness session a few weeks ago — and using the No wonder it is characterized by the federal gov- words of my colleague, Mr. Norman Yakeleya — ernment as a “project of national significance” and the best way to guide our future is to be at the table. important to the country’s position on security, sov- I hope this conference has given us an under- ereignty, and economic development. standing, an opportunity, and the motivation to fur- In addition to these infrastructure investments, ther develop a governance structure where we all we are also investing in energy improvements that have respective yet complementary roles to play. will provide lower-cost and environmentally friendly Working together, I’m confident that we will un- power to our residents and our businesses - lowering lock the immense potential of our territory and clear the cost of living for our residents and making in- the path to prosperity. vestment in the Northwest Territories more feasible Thank you.◉ and more attractive. This is the thinking behind what we as a gov- Minister Dave Ramsay is Northwest Territories Minister of ernment are doing to strengthen and diversify our Industry, Tourism and Investment and Minister of Transportation. economy — and to promote sustainable economic He has served as MLA for Kam Lake since 2003. growth in our communities and across the territory. We all have respective responsibilities to help

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 19 NORTHERN VOICES Beyond health care: Healthy communities begin with listening Dr. Anna Reid Photo credit: Canadian Medical Association.

n August, the Canadian Medical Association broader societal factors, such as housing, food secu- held our annual General Council meeting in rity, employment, education, income, clean air and IYellowknife. It was quite historic for us as it was the water. first time in the 145-year history of the CMA that In fact, most of these determinants have a far we held our annual meeting in the Northwest Terri- greater impact on health outcome than the health tories. Close to 800 delegates, guests and members care system itself, which ranks way down the list. of the media made the trek up here. It was an as- Following a passionate discussion at General Coun- tounding success, in large part thanks to the fantastic cil on the role that physicians can play in helping hospitality of the community and entire territory. address all of these factors which make people sick Mounting an event like this was not without its in the first place, the CMA is planning action in a challenges, but I think it was really useful for physi- number of areas. cians from down south to actually understand the These include incorporating formal teaching in kinds of challenges Northerners face on a daily ba- medical schools on health equity; providing leader- sis. The challenges posed by distance, harsh climate, ship training for students and young physicians and lack of educational opportunities, income disparity teaching them how to become advocates for their — these are barriers not just to one-time business patients; and developing tool kits for practising phy- conferences like our General Council, but to long- sicians on how they can advocate for patients in their term prosperity and also to health. Yet there can be practice and how they can start to advocate at the no pathway to prosperity without a healthy popula- community level. tion. We are also urging the federal government to For several years, the CMA has been on a drive view all of its cabinet policy decisions through the to transform our health care system. Recently we lens of their impact on health — what we would call have expanded this focus on transforming the sys- a Health Impact Assessment framework. This is an tem to also encompass the social determinants of approach that is already being used in several other health. Today I would like to talk about some of the countries. barriers to good health, the social determinants of Sadly, Yellowknife is as good a place as anywhere health, and what we can do to address them. in Canada to see the impact of health inequities on While recognition of the social determinants of our health outcomes. Every day in the emergency health is nothing new, there appears to be a growing department I see patients in desperate circumstanc- appreciation of the impact on health outcomes of es, lacking housing, affordable nutritious foods, and Dr. Anna Reid, Canadian Medical Association President, 2012. both adequate income and education. person end up in a psychiatric hospital or prison, the Many of these issues are a legacy of colonialism cost goes up to about $120,000. In contrast, if we and the residential school system. Many of them are gave that homeless person access to supportive hous- also tied to mental health and addiction issues, but ing and social services it would cost between $13, that is only part of the story. Last year, a group of 000 - $18,000 a year — what a savings and what a physicians met with Tom Beaulieu, the NWT Min- change in that person’s quality of life. ister of Health and Social Services, to discuss health We know that one of the great equalizers in life issues in the North. What Minister Beaulieu spoke is early childhood education and development and almost exclusively about was jobs and housing and from this I mean from birth to age five, before we hit what immense challenges they are in Northern com- the school system. Unfortunately, Canada lags far munities. behind in this important area of investing in human There is no point talking about a health care capital, which is so vital to developing a capable and delivery system if we do not address these other is- productive workforce. sues. Just consider a few facts about the housing sit- You might be wondering why, as the president uation here in the NWT. The NWT has the highest of an association representing 77,000 doctors, I am percentage of households in Canada with houses in talking about poverty, housing, education and ear- need of major repairs — double the national aver- ly childhood development. I say, how could I not? age. A worker at minimum wage in the Northwest If we care about our patients, how could physicians Territories makes about $1,200 per month after tax- not be concerned about the factors that are causing es, while a one bedroom apartment in this city costs people to be ill in the first place? How, as leaders $1,300 per month. More than five percent of wom- in our communities and members of a privileged en in the Northwest Territories are homeless, and in profession, could we not speak out for a better and smaller NWT communities up to half of households healthier society? Turning a blind eye is not why I have an income of less than $30,000 a year. became a doctor. What does all of this have to do with health? In The medical profession has been accused of a word, it has everything to do with health and cer- being patronizing towards patients, often rightly so. tainly physicians see the correlation each day. The I am hopful things will start to change. More and evidence goes well beyond the anecdotal. In a poll more of us regard our relationship to patients as conducted for the CMA this summer, only four in more of a partnership. However, we still have a long 10 Canadians earning less than $30,000 per year de- way to go. We need to learn how to listen to our scribed their health as very good or excellent com- patients even if they articulate in ways that we do pared to seven in 10 of those earning $60,000 or not clearly understand. To paraphrase Sir William more. This was a 30-point gap; whereas only three Osler, who was one of the greatest physicians in the years ago the gap between the two income groups history of medicine, “Listen to the patient and he was 17 percentage points. will give you the diagnosis.” Further, nearly half of respondents with house- From Osler’s teachings, I understand that be- hold incomes of $30,000 or less reported spending yond the details of physical complaints, we need to less time, energy and money sustaining their health listen to the patient’s whole story. When a patient as the economy slowed compared with 20 percent arrives at our door we need to find out whether that of those from households with incomes of $60,000 person is poor, is educated, has a home with healthy or more. food to eat. We need to concentrate on wellness and As we all know, Aboriginal health outcomes are preventative health and not just disease. by a long shot the worst in the country. There are As a team-based effort, this conference bringing huge costs attached to these disparities, most of all together Aboriginal leaders, business people, public human suffering and wasted potential, but there are servants, and health and education experts, reflects also costs to our social safety net and our health care the fact that problems are best solved in a collabora- system. tive manner and this holds just as true in health and A report last year from the National Council health care as it does in economic matters. of Welfare citing research from the Public Health Health care transformation will only come Agency of Canada, said that about 20 percent of about with the active participation of all levels of health care spending in Canada can be attributed to society — it is not just a government issue. Each and socio-economic disparities. It noted that a homeless every one of us has a role to play.◉ person in Calgary, for example, can run up $42,000 in annual costs at emergency shelters. Should that Dr. Anna Reid is Canadian Medial Association President. She is the first CMA President from the Northwest Territories. Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 21 NORTHERN VOICES Economic development: Striking the right balance Stephen Kakfwi

oday I will talk about my own view and ap- going to single-handedly kill The Mackenzie Valley proach to being a citizen in the North. Per- Pipeline!”. They thought I was asking too much. Thaps I can give some suggestions as to the tools and The pressure became unbearable and Fort Good type of culture I think we need to deal effectively Hope asked that I stay home. with our economy, whether it is an economy driven That was the end of my contribution. I do not by oil and gas or mining. Also to turn our minds to have any regrets about it, I am glad that I stood up the impacts that our relationship with Ottawa and and pointed out that we are not getting anything lack of relationship with industries will have on our out of the Mackenzie Gas Project and we should people. get more. My view was that if we are not going to First of all, I think I have to say it is my wish that benefit, then, perhaps, it should not happen. Look at we do not become another little Alberta. There, it the diamond mines for example. I had to deal with is extremely difficult to see where the interests of oil those as a government Minister back in the 1990s. and gas companies, and the interests of the govern- My approach then was the same as my approach ment, begin and end. The interests of our people now: I always ask what the solution is, what do we here in the North and the interests of the oil, gas and have, what are our strengths. One strength we have mining companies are not the same. We have to stop in the NWT as governments is the relationships we pretending that they are. You could end up looking have amongst one another. Those relationships were at a situation where in 30 years places like Fort Good very strong starting in the 1970s and into the 1980s Hope, where I am from, will still have high unem- and 1990s; however, I am not sure that it is continu- ployment, be heavily socially impacted and all the ing to evolve. Despite that, I view our relationships oil and gas will have been siphoned out. as the strongest tool I think we need to cultivate as One constant in a resource based economy is a Northern people, to maintain a distinct evolving that the oil and gas people will come and try to take culture for us as Northern people. Being different the oil and gas to make as much profit as possible— from everywhere else in Canada we have that ca- that is what they do and they do it quite well. We as pacity to draw on the diversity, differences and huge citizens have a different role. Our job as citizens is to spaces between our people, whether you are Inuvial- tell our governments, our representatives, and our uit, Inuit, Gwich’in, Metis, someone from Fort Good leaders that if they allow resource industry compa- Hope, Trout Lake or Lutselk’e. Drawing on all of nies to take the oil, gas and other resources: at the those creates strength. One of the things that mark very least, make sure that the people get something our history are the times when our people overcame out of it. There is always a fear that we will receive the differences we had. We overcame our differences nothing. as Dene and Metis people with the Inuit and it was I remember being a chief negotiator for Fort our leaders who led the Canadian First Nations to Good Hope for a brief year dealing with the impact change the Constitution of Canada. It is because of of the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. I was people like John Amagoalik and Georges Erasmus pushing for some resources to go to the Aboriginal and many other leaders were able to understand governments along the pipeline right of way. I main- how to bridge differences and network. tained that if we are Aboriginal governments then When it came to dealing with the diamond surely it is not stretching it to say that if lowly mu- mines, the Premier at the time, Don Morin, and nicipalities have the right to levy a property tax, then many of our leaders said if we are not going to get surely, Aboriginal governments have that power. I anything out of it, let us leave it in the ground. The argued for recognition that such power is concur- diamond companies said if we asked for too much rent with that of the government of the Northwest they may not open the mine. Strong and tough lead- Territories, that Aboriginal governments should levy ers stood up despite that threat —maybe there was a property tax if we want to. Well, the knives came a few people who said that the diamond mines are out and hysteria started along the lines of “Steve is good for us and just go with it without asking for

22 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Photo credit: MorrisPhoto credit: Neyelle. too much, but I do not remember those people at took care of them. all. I tend to forget them. They get run over and With the recent discussions with devolution, I forgotten. It is the people who stood up that I re- was asked by the government of NWT to help them member. Because our leaders were strong and unit- but I said I would not tell them that it is a good deal ed, worked with the Tlicho, Deh Cho, Metis, MLA’s, because I am not sure that it really is. What I did tell Ministers, the Premier—everyone was on-side and them is that the Gwich’in, Sahtu, Deh Cho and [Tli- we got the diamond mines to agree to something cho] should all do it together. They should work on it that we should use as a benchmark. That included together and move toward it together, not be divid- a certain amount of the contracts for activities such ed. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. The as construction, operation and maintenance of the Sahtu signed the devolution agreement in principle, diamond mine, catering — a share of these should and it is a matter of time before other organizations go to Northern and Aboriginal businesses. We insist- start to move toward that as well. That for me is un- ed that a percentage of people hired to work at the fortunate because if we do not maintain that value diamond mine should be Northern and Aboriginal and cultural norm where we do not move until we people. There was a lot of hysteria, screaming and have taken care of everybody and accounted for ev- yelling, but at the end they agreed to do it because eryone’s interests, then we will do it to the homeless, we stood together and stood our ground. the poor, the weak and the disabled. Maybe we will You are going to have fracking going on in the be flexible, but I do not know. My view, and I have North and oil and gas offshore. We need leaders who always said to my children, is that I hope if you get have the ability to say what is good for the Gwich’in into the world of politics and leadership you take a and Inuvialuit must also be good for the Sahtu, gentler and more compassionate route than I did. Tlicho, Deh Cho and Metis. We need leaders who Politics in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s was brutal at want to ensure everyone is taken care of—the un- times, but in reflection I think I grew up at a time employed, the homeless, single families. We have a when we were raised and cultivated by the old lead- culture, maybe it is not as strong as it used to be, but ers to know what was happening in Aklavik, Trout we had a culture where we embraced everyone and Lake, Fort Smith, Fort Providence and Wekwee- Liard River, date unknown. ti. We had to think about how things would affect ent from the oil and gas industry, from the tar sands people throughout the Northwest Territories, not and the fracking companies—never. It is almost like just in Yellowknife or our home community. Being there is a blend: what is good for Imperial Oil and all a leader is not about saying that you represent Fort of these oil companies is good for Alberta, and the Good Hope and that is all you care about. We need government toes that line. That is my view of it and to cultivate a corporate, governmental and Aborig- I think there will always be a social impact. If there inal leadership that works on taking care of every- is no development or jobs there will be poverty and one. Before you make decisions you check with your lack of hope. Fracking is going to bring hundreds of neighbours and the other regions. You do not have millions of dollars of development into Sahtu, but to agree; however, you should take it into account. I I am not sure that it is sustainable environmentally. We need to know that and make that choice. Everything we do If there is no development or jobs there will be poverty depends on the sort of leaders we have. I do and lack of hope. Fracking is going to bring hundreds of not know many of the leaders that represent millions of dollars of development into Sahtu, but I am us today and I do not not sure that it is sustainable environmentally. We need to know how well they work together. I know know that and make that choice. that the last four years I was a Premier, I met an MLA who was elected to the legislature and think that is going to be key because we are going to was going to vote on laws and money for every com- be facing the oil, gas and mining companies and we munity in the Northwest Territories—33 communi- are facing the Federal government every day. They ties. That MLA had never been outside Yellowknife, have proposed the devolution deal and for those of not even to Detah or Ndilo. Now, how do you like you who have read it, you also know they outlined that? I was so astounded that I laughed and, sorry their terms and conditions. For instance, they have to say, ridiculed that MLA. That is what happens to agreed for us to manage the oil and gas, but there us, we do not know who we elect nor give them the has to be a consolidation of power and decision tools to govern wisely. We need to teach our young making into one resource management board. Do people and leaders, tell them that they should travel we have to take it—what is the choice? If we do not and get to know people in the communities because take it, they will manage things anyway. that is what makes the difference. If you go to the oil and gas companies you need That is my contribution to the discussion we are strong leaders and leaders who know how to negoti- having this week. I think it is our strong culture of ate these deals and say if there is oil and gas activity cooperation that will bring us together and that has in the Delta, offshore and in Sahtu we want a certain brought us safely through some tough decisions in amount of money to go to Northern and Aboriginal the past. We have succeeded when we have done contractors in those areas, just as we did with the dia- things together, when we have been methodical mond mines. Otherwise, as I said, 20 years from now and compassionate, whether it was the Canadian Colville Lake will still be Colville Lake; Good Hope Constitution, the negotiations with diamond mines will still be Good Hope: nothing will have changed and even division of the Northwest Territories. We except the source of wealth and prosperity will be have done it because we have been clear, had strong gone and the people will have nothing to show for leaders that stood up for our interests and knew how it. We need to set targets, goals and expectations by to be compassionate enough to take care of every- deciding what we want and making that a priority. I body.◉ think it is realistic and reasonable, but I do not think it has ever been done with oil and gas companies. As Stephen Kakfwi served as the ninth Premier of the North- far as I am concerned I look south and think it is the west Territories (2000-2003), MLA for Sahtu (1987- oil and gas companies that run Alberta. You never 2003), and as Dene Nation President (1983-1987). once hear the Alberta government saying we rep- resent Albertans and Albertans’ interests are differ-

24 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 ARTICLES GOVERNANCE Co-Managing the future? Indigenous peoples and land use planning in the North Hayden King Photo credit: Morris Neyelle. Photo credit: Morris

cross the North, the concepts of land use cal commuities and particularly Indigenous peoples planning and co-management are common within decision making processes. Indeed, burea- featuresA of discourse on land claims, resource de- cratic absorbtion and exclusion of culturally-rooted velopment and economic activity generally. While perspectives on relationships with the land challenge for many years these collaborative institutional ar- genuine participation. Moreover, in documented ex- rangements have been the purview of government amples of land use planning in the North, from the bureaucrats, industry and land claim negotiators, first Northern planning commission in Nunavut to they have increasingly emerged as salient features co-management boards in Yukon and the most re- of Northern political and economic affairs. Indeed, cent legislation for Northern Ontario, there is much with recent moves towards devolution in the North- failure to incorporate local and Indigenous knowl- west Territories, community members from Yellow- edge. Each provides a lesson for future planning knife to Inuvik are learning that the future of the boards, in the NWT and elsewhere. land is increasingly being determined by decisions made within surface rights, water or regional land ◉◉◉ use boards. Such committees, populated by technocrats The Emergence of Indigenous such as lawyers and land use planners are necessary Land Use Planners features of decision-making over lands and resourc- es. However, planning as it has and continues to be A practice very much originating in southern practiced, can actually restrict the involvement of lo- Canadian cities and provinces, land use planning

Caribou, 2012. has been slowly adopted in the North. It remains enous peoples surrender most of their territories for an ambiguous concept here — it does not resemble financial settlements, usually distributed over a num- the zoning bylaws of municipalities or the regulato- ber of years; fee simple title to a fraction of their ry features of provinces that traditionally accompa- traditional territories; and some degree of manage- ny planning. Instead, it is often complicated by an ment authority over both Indigenous-“owned” lands abundance of federal and territorial legislation—as and formerly occupied, now Crown, lands. And yet well as various classifications of land, gradual devo- even after surrendering, in many cases 90 percent of lution, increasingly influential conservation and in- the surface and 99 percent of the subsurface rights dustry lobbies, and perhaps above all, land claims for this management authority, a meaningful role for settlements. Indigenous peoples in managing lands and resources Amid this complexity, a plethora of institu- does not always materialize. tional arrangements have been established: work- ing groups, negotiating tables, wildlife boards, im- ◉◉◉ pact-benefit or participation agreements, and so on. In some cases there are regional land use plans (at Bureaucratic and Philisophical Barriers various stages of completion) attempting to guide and inform many of these processes. Most of these In Nunavut, a jurisdiction that has attempted organizational efforts are spearheaded by federal, comprehensive land use planning (LUP) through territorial, and provincial governments hoping ini- a Planning Commission, there are five planning tiate a system for designating land use and allotting boards. In Yukon, there are eight, in the NWT an- resources. According to AANDC, planning aims to other seven. And whether these are Surface Rights accommodate conservation, development, subsis- Boards, Development Assessment Boards, or Her- tence hunting, and a general notion of sustainabil- itage Resources Boards, participating Indigenous ity.1 peoples have to organize and express themselves Indigenous peoples became a part of this emerg- in ways compatible with the institutional structure ing practice with the James Bay and Northern Quebec of these bodies - the language, concepts, rules, and Agreement (JBNQA) in the early to mid 1970s. With procedures required by Canada and territorial gov- the realization that the Cree and Innu had a signif- ernments. There are special training sessions and icant interest and legal right to lands and resources educational initiatives - all of this “catching-up” a they had traditionally occupied, the Crown had no tremendous undertaking - indeed, a common re- choice but to include them in the “management” frain is how Indigenous peoples lack the necessary of those lands and resources. The idea was further capacity to engage. So common is this problem that elaborated with interpretation of Section 35 through outside consultants are often brought in to serve as decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, such as community representatives. Guerin (1984) and Delgamuukw (1997), followed by These phenomena demonstrate the lack of the Haida (2004), Taku (2004), and Mikesew (2005). power Indigenous peoples exercise in the process More recent cases continue to elaborate on the de- from the very outset - they enter into land use plan- gree of power Indigenous peoples exercise in land ning at a disadvantage while industry, governments, use and resource management decision-making pro- and conservation organizations already speak the cesses. same language (the political, social, legal and eco- This has continued to compel the Crown to in- nomic discourse that requires fluency in budgeting, clude Indigenous peoples in these processes. In fact, work plans, tenure arrangements, contracts, inter- nearly every comprehensive land claim agreement governmental relations, and so on). This leaves the since 1975, includes a mechanism for collaboration burden of change and understanding on Indigenous on land use planning or co-management. The Royal peoples. Interestingly, in contrast, there is very little Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) labelled time and effort on the part of Canadian appoint- this phenomenon “claims-based co-management.” ed officials to learn Inuk or Tlingit ways (though a The RCAP defined these regimes as “collaborative Northern colleague informs me that the opposite is institutional arrangements whereby governments often true in the NWT— that sometimes territorial and Aboriginal parties enter into formal agreements bureaucrats here have been “Dene-tized”). specifying their respective rights, powers and obliga- Beyond nominal absorbtion, the regimes have tions with reference to the management and alloca- been structured to create a very visible power im- tion of resources within a particular area.”2 balance. While Indigenous representatives comprise The standard formula unfolds as follows: Indig- 50 percent of most boards, and may even serve as

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 27 Chairs, each of the five planning boards in Nunavut the very concept of management can be contrary to only have the power to make recommendations to Indigenous perspectives. the Minister of AANDC for approval or rejection. Marc Stevenson provides an example of how In Yukon, while comprehensive land use plans are this dismissal also equates to superiority. In a meet- not yet in place, the situation is similar with planning ing of the Beverly Caribou Management Board, boards answering to the territorial government. And where the board was attempting to determine cari- in Northern Ontario, community land use plans are bou herd numbers, Canadian officials advocated the actually subject to Ministerial discretion. use of aerial surveys. However, the Native represen- Now, not only do the bureaucratic land use re- tatives were hesitant to use the technique, as pho- gimes of the present force Indigenous peoples into tos would invariably fail to catch the entire caribou an alien system of management that limits their population and the data would be skewed. To prove decision making power, the process also encourages the effectiveness or the aerial survey, a government them to surrender their values and indeed, their cul- biologist asked the skeptical representative to guess tural perspectives on land and resource use in favor at the number of caribou in a particular aerial pho- of Western or Euro-Canadian notions of develop- tograph. The uneducated speculations were all far ment, conservation and science. off the mark, which, in turn, supposedly reinforced Again, this may seem ironic given the rhetoric the validity of these methods and counteracted the of “co-management”, even more so with the sup- concerns.4 posed “integration” of Indigenous philosophy and knowledge into land management practices. But ◉◉◉ integration is problematic when land use planners assume that this knowledge can be distilled as simply Planning Failures, from Nunavut to Ontario another data set to be incorporated into the already accepted way of doing things: bureaucratic, scientif- Much of the argument made here is backed by ic, reductionist, technical, and compartmentalized. evidence found in land and resource management But the reality is that Indigenous knowledge is an plans that exist throughout the North. In particular, independent source of knowledge, which if con- the lack of actual control or power Indigenous peo- sidered seriously, would fundamentally clash with ples can exert in either land use planning or co-man- the current logic of land use planning and resource agement has been seen in older planning regimes of management decision making. Nunavut as well as more recently in Ontario. An example from a meeting of Ruby Range Out of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA), Sheep Steering Committee in Yukon: Indigenous came the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) hunters advocated the end of the “full curl rule”, with a mandate to oversee plans for the territory. which allowed hunters across the region to take The NPC acts as the arbiter of development—effec- sheep that were old, hence the full curl of the their tively, a gatekeeper. However, since its’ creation over horns. The concerned Native hunters argued that ten years ago, the Commission has seemingly lost its these full curl sheep were actually the most import- way, approving a number of controversial projects ant to the overall sheep population because they that blatantly deviate from the two land use plans in have a role as teachers; “it is from them that the place. Not surprisingly, residents of Nunavut have a younger rams learn proper mating and rutting be- problem with this. Late last year, a Nunatsiaq News havior as well as general survival strategies.” The editorial quipped, “because of a long series of foolish scientists on the committee reviewed the literature blunders, most committed within the past 10 years and disagreed. The rule remained.3 or so, no reasonable person can now claim that the Or there is the contentious catch and release environmental protection system laid out within the fishing policy also in Yukon, which contradicts In- land claims agreement is capable of inspiring public digenous beliefs that its disrespectful to give back confidence.”5 gifts. We could likewise be talking about polar bears The issue was two significant projects, Areva in Inuvialiut lands or Belugas in Southeast Baffin; Uranium’s Kiggavik Project, a plan to extract 3,000 Indigenous conceptions of animal behavior or an- tonnes of concentrated yellowcake uranium annual- imals as sentient, intelligent and social, are often ly for 17 years, at multiple open-pit and underground dismissed by officials as unscientific. This extends mining sites 80 kilometres west of Baker Lake, and beyond wildlife and science to other aspects of land Baffinland Iron Mines’ Mary River Project, which use planning: dividing the land into zones, extract- would extract 18,000 tonnes of high-grade iron ore ing minerals which give the land its essence, even annually for 21 years, 160 kilometres south of Pond

28 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Photo credit: MorrisPhoto credit: Neyelle.

Inlet. Both projects violated the NPC’s Inuit influ- with their small boats. But with the recent discovery enced land use plans, the former for threatening car- of chromite deposits throughout 5,000 square kilo- ibou and the latter for proposing shipping corridors, metres of Northern Ontario rock, which has been and yet both were ultimately approved.6 called “the most promising mining opportunity in Inuit have surrendered 90 percent of their ter- Canada in a century.”8 Ontario has attempted to ritory and 99 percent of their subsurface rights for address the conflict and clear space for planning and input on these plans. Yet, in the end, they are still development with the Far North Act. alienated from decisions about development that The Act, also known as Bill 191, is designed to will significantly affect them. It seems clear that land bring Ojibwe and Mushkego peoples into the land use planning in Nunavut is neither empowering In- use planning process. In fact, the stated purpose uit nor giving them decision-making authority. Cer- of the Act is to provide “land use planning in the tainly, Inuit serve on the NPC, but they have only Far North that directly involves First Nations in the half of the positions and the senior policy advisor planning.” The rhetoric is impressive, really. In the for the organization lives in Yellowknife.7 In addi- actual legislation, the term “First Nation” is men- tion, if the NPC ever makes a negative conformity tioned 55 times in 24 terse sections.9 determination, the minster has the power to exempt Yet, the trend described above regarding the il- whichever proposals he deems important enough to lusion of power is maintained. Ontario drafted the do so, despite Inuit objections. Act without Mushkegowuk input, scheduling con- The situation in Ontario shares the theme of sultations unilaterally and on short notice so when disempowement but is also much different. In con- invited, Mushkegowuk counld not attend. In fact, trast to territorial planning, the case in Ontario is so contentious is the Far North Act that the Nishnaw- not claims-based but crisis-based. Throughout the be-Aski Nation (NAN), the political body represent- past decade conflict over recent development has ing 50-odd First Nations, has condemned it. Former seemingly proliferated, notably in Kitchenuhmayko- NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy stated on the eve of osib Inninuwug, where band Chief and Council re- the bill’s passage, “We will do everything we can to sorted to blocking the landing path of float planes prevent this legislation from passing, but if Bill 191 is Deline, 2012. passed in spite of our opposition NAN First Nations rial systems by developing enforcement regimes and will not recognize the legislation and will move to public education.13 The Haida in B.C., after an in- exercise full and exclusive jurisdiction over our ter- credible battle with the provincial government have ritory.”10 done a similar thing with their land use vision called NAN is strongly opposed to the encroachment Yah’guudang, which actually gives priority to cedar, and usurpation of jurisdiction in their territories. salmon and black bears, over people.14 The Ojibwe Under treaties 5 and 9, First Nations believe they in NW ON have established the Great Earth Law have the right to govern themselves and the lands and have been partially successful at getting corpo- they have occupied since time immemorial. Yet, the rations to sign on to its land use planning principles; Far North Act presumes to set aside 225,000 kilome- otherwise, they are not welcome in the region.15 tres for conservation without input from NAN; to di- So while it would be irresponsible to default vide the Far North territory into two zones, against on opportunities to make sensible decisions about their opposition; and to give control of the land use development and conservation in some systematic planning process entirely to the Ontario govern- fashion, it would likewise be irresponsible to do so at ment—even community land use plans are subject to the expense of genuine participation. ministerial approval. In addition, many projects are What the communities mentioned above have excluded from land use planning, including the con- done, and what others can potentially do, is critical- struction of transmission lines, mineral staking and ly reflect on the process as it is being designed and exploration, and already-approved plans. In fact, the implemented (whether it be in the Peel River area, minister “would have authority to determine addi- the supposed forthcoming Nunavut wide plan or the tional activities that may proceed before a commu- new NWT regulatory regime) and leverage the pow- nity-based land use plan is in place.”11 Again, that er required to correct the institutional power imbal- leaves ultimate authority with the government and ance and insert the values that we know are essential potentially eschews local people’s desires. As the Bill to our relationships with the land and the diversity was being passed in September 2010, Northerners of creatures that we share it with.◉ were protesting on the steps of the legislature. Hayden King is Anishinaabe and Assisant Professor of Political ◉◉◉ Science at Ryerson University.

New Directions in Land Management? Footnotes 1. Indian and Northern affairs Canada, Northern Land Use Guidelines: Adminis- tration Framework (Ottawa: Indian and Northern affairs Canada, 2008). While this overview is far from comprehensive, it 2. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Vol. 2: Restructuring the Relationship (Ottawa: Indian and Northern affairs Canada, 1996), Part 2, indicates challenges and certianly cause for concern. Chapter 4, “lands and resources.” Indeed in the slew of co-management and land use 3. Paul Nadasdy, “The Politics of TEK: Power and the ‘Integration’ of Knowledge,” Arctic Anthropology, 36, 1-2 (1999). planning regimes across the North, Indigenous peo- 4. Marc G. Stevenson, “The Possibility of difference: rethinking Co-Man- ples are expressing their discontent: government-im- agement,” Human Organization, 65, 2 (summer 2006), 167—80. posed hunting bans have been repeatedly violated 5. “Nunavut’s radioactive issue,” Nunatsiaq News, Editorial (December 29, 2008). from the NWT to Labrador; blockades in response 6. Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, “development Proposal for the Mary to exploitative development seem to multiply by the River Project” (Toronto: Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, March 2008), 1. year in British Columbia and Ontario; individual 7. NPC, “Our Team,” NPC. Obtained from: www.nunavut.ca/en/ First Nations routinely launch court cases and ap- about-commission/our-team. 8. “Don’t let Mines Pre-empt Natives” Toronto Star, Editorial, March 10, peals against companies, provinces, and territories, 2010. and vice versa. In a 2009 study of Little Salmon/ 9. Ontario, Legislative Assembly, “Bill 191,” Far North Act, 2010, Govern- ment of Ontario. Obtained from: www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail. Carmacks First Nation, David Natcher found that do?locale=en&BillId=2205 83 percent of community members surveyed be- 10. Nishnawbe aski Nation, Bill 191, News Release (NAN, July 22, 2009). 11. Ontario, Legislative Assembly, “Bill 191.” lieve they will have considerably less access to land 12. David Natcher, Clifford Hickey, Mark Nelson and Susan Davis, “Impli- in the future.12 cations of Tenure Insecurity for aboriginal land use in Canada,” Human Organization, 68, 3 (Fall 2009). Yet there does seem to be some hope. A few 13. David Natcher and Susan Davis, “Rethinking devolution: Challenges unique examples can provide direction. The North- for Aboriginal resource Management in the Yukon Territory,” Society & Natural Resources, 20, 3 (March 2007), 271—9. ern Tutchone Council has rejected land use plan- 14. Louise Takeda and Inge Ropke, “Power and Contestation in Collabora- ning as it is traditionally practiced and is working tive ecosystem-Based Management: The Case of haida Gwaii,” Ecological on a system where traditional law, called Doo Li Economics (2010). 15. Grand Council of Treaty #3, “Laws and Policies,” Grand Coun- is applied to land use in their territory — they are cil of Treaty #3. Obtained from: www.gct3.net/ grand-chiefs-office/ also attempting to make it compatible with territo- laws-and-policies/.

30 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 DELINE Photo credit: MorrisPhoto credit: Neyelle.

Herring net in winter, 2012. EDUCATION Dechinta Bush University Student Plenary: A report Cole Smith & Darcy Leigh

“We had huge prosperous moments where we were articulated their versions of prosperity, sustainabil- super excited about the riches we had collected—the ity and wealth and challenged the assumption that cranberries or the Labrador tea,” wealth is rooted in the material. Instead, they em- -Dawn Tremblay phasized local, land-based Indigenous knowledge; healthy families and communities; and ongoing per- This article is a report from the Dechinta Bush Univer- sonal and institutional decolonization. Higher edu- sity student plenary at the Northern Governance and Econ- cation and strong leadership are, they argued, key omy Conference. Dechinta Bush University is a land-based, strategies for constructing this pathway to Northern university accredited program in Chief Drygeese Territory prosperity. (Akaitcho), Denendeh. Dechinta combines ‘bush’ and ‘aca- Brooke Hope opened the panel by putting demic’ ways of teaching, learning and researching. Students knowledge and learning at the centre of a re-imag- presented at the conference as part of their final assessments ined vision of prosperity: a prosperous North is one for the 2012 semester and as a way of connecting what they in which people are connected with each other and had learned with leaders and communities across the North. In the land, through land-based Indigenous knowl- their presentations, the students drew on their diverse experienc- edge. Education in the North is therefore more than es and perspectives. Prior to the panel, however, they worked the provision of and qualification for jobs, Brooke together to agree a collective message and to develop their in- explained. Northern, Indigenous and land-based dividual presentations collaboratively. In this report, therefore, knowledges are all a part of self-knowledge and we establish a conversation between the students, through the self-determination for Northerners, Indigenous as panel, while also including quotes from an absent student in well as non-Indigenous. For Brooke, this happens recognition of every student’s contribution to the Dechinta through learning and continuing her cultural tra- community. ‘We’, the authors, are a Dechinta student from the ditions. Dene youth, she argued, must learn about U.S. (Cole Smith) and a Dechinta facilitator from the U.K. Dene ways, land and history from Dene elders. Kris- (Darcy Leigh). ten Tanche added: “As the saying goes, ‘You do not know who you are until you know where you come ◉◉◉ from.”. Learning and knowledge must originate in the articipants in the Northern Governance and North and be for Northerners, by Northerners and P Economy Conference spent three days dis- oriented to the North. Kristen Tanche and Dawn cussing the question of how to achieve prosperity, Tremblay, two Northern students who had studied sustainability and wealth creation in the North. As in Southern universities, both reported the absence business, government, academic and community of learning that is relevant to the North in those set- leaders set out “pathways to prosperity”, they re- tings. When it did appear, Dawn Tremblay noted, peatedly asserted the importance of youth. On the Southerners taught it. Kristen Tanche described final day, students from Dechinta Bush University’s how learning from Northern instructors had made fall semester intervened in this discussion, asking: her Dechinta experience meaningful and deep- What does it mean for the North to be prosperous, ened her understanding of where she is from. For to be sustainable and to be wealthy? What sort of a all these reasons, Northern, Indigenous and land- future do Northern young people want to be a part based knowledge is central to prosperous and strong of ? Dawn Tremblay summarized: “I challenge each Northern land, people and communities. and every one of you to reflect on your definition Dene ways of learning, on the land, are inter- of prosperity, governance and economy and how it generational, and therefore necessary to creating is the same or different than other people’s in this strong, healthy families. Strong, healthy families are, room and throughout the conference.” Drawing on in turn, integral to Northern prosperity. The stu- their experience at Dechinta, the rest of the students dents gave a range of examples of land-based Dene

32 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Photo credit: Northern Affairs. Photo credit: Public learning and teaching across generations. Doris Sewi central to the Dechinta students’ vision of prosper- explained, “The way I was raised, my father taught ity. me hunting... He brought me on the land since I was Land-based knowledge not only connects people a little girl and ever since. I also learned my mother’s with each other, but with the land and the environ- land skills, so I learned both men and women’s skills. ment, through experience. Conventional academic I captured my cultural and traditional ways...I teach knowledge disconnects people from the land and my children about our culture and language; that is knowledge from experience. As Cole Smith, the only important for them because I want to keep it going Southern student, explains: “.... a lot of my culture and continue with our history.” Doris Taneton told was about disconnection and isolation. I come from the story of how learning from her father, on the an educational tradition of a State University where land, has inspired her in her work as a language in- I studied environmental studies in the Building of structor and community researcher, working with all Natural Resources inside a room without any win- generations in her community and guided by Elders. dows. We never went outside.” Land-based learning, Doris Taneton also emphasised the role of land- “is about is re-establishing relationships and making based learning at Dechinta in creating these family those connections again. This knowledge that we are connections: “When you actually learn hands-on connecting with is knowledge that is rooted in what activities such as cutting fish or making dry meat, it means to live on the land and be on the land… It you can have your children with you. The parents means to connect with knowledge that is rooted in and children can observe and learn. It is a great way the land.” Jeanetta Prodromidis gave an example of for children to learn as well. They listen and parents how this happens for her: “When we live within the can be with their children and learn together.” Doris context of society, it is extremely easy to external- explained that by encouraging parents to bring chil- ize the costs of our activities. For example, when I dren, Dechinta provides necessary space for mothers flush a standard toilet, I don’t think about where the to become leaders. Land-based learning therefore water and its waste goes after the flush; I only know creates and strengthens connections between people that they are gone, and that they are no longer my — within families, within communities and between problem. When living off the land, though, no such generations. Strong families and communities are externalization occurs, and it is necessary to take Dechinta students present at Northern Governance and Economy Conference, Yellowknife, October 2012. full responsibility for the material waste.” Jeanetta know their traditions and their culture. They draw Prodromidis also explained that hunting and using on those traditions as tools for the present and fu- traditional medicines are ways of connecting with ture,” (Dechinta students’ collective statement). As the land and living sustainably: “When trying to be Brooke Hope explained, leaders are not limited to sustainable by living off the land, I felt disconnected business or government: “Being in Dechinta I found from these chains: I was entirely aware of both the myself and being on the land reminded me of the consequences of my actions as well as the conditions importance of people, culture and the land. Seeing which made my existence possible. To me person- everyone here as a leader, not just as student/teach- ally, trying to be sustainable by living off the land, er, but we all have knowledge to share.” I was aware of my interconnectedness with others The students placed their stories in the context than ever before.” In all these ways, learning and of decolonization. Decolonization, they argued, living on the land are necessary to a prosperous and is necessary for a prosperous and self-determining sustainable Northern future. North. Dawn Tremblay said that as a non-Indige- Although they argued throughout the panel for a nous Northern student, this was part of her moti- re-centring of Northern, Dene and land-based ways vation for attending Dechinta. For Dawn, Dechin- of knowing and being, the students did not reject ta helped to “crystallize the colonial history,” and Southern or academic knowledge outright. Instead, further “encouraged establishing meaningful and they argued that strong leaders and strong commu- respectful relationships.” This helps to reconfigure nities know “both ways” - in order to be “strong like relationships between Indigenous and non-Indige- two people” (Brooke Hope, using a phrase and con- nous people, on both societal and interpersonal lev- cept from the Tlicho Dene in Allice Legat’s book, els. This process, she explained, is decolonization. Walking the Land, Feeding the Fire). Kristen Tanche Dawn quoted a statement written collectively by the emphasized how having two sets of tools made her Dechinta students: “Practicing self-determination strong: “We all agreed that learning both worlds is and decolonization rocks. Self determination and significant. We all agreed that by combining tradi- decolonization cannot be learned from a book or tional knowledge and academic knowledge, we were granted by the state. They must be experienced and stronger people. Strong people create a strong foun- practiced in all processes of teaching and learning. dation for society.” She explained that “[one]..must Every person, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, has not only read and watch, but experience and live the right and responsibility to self-determine and what is being taught. This dual system of learning de-colonize in their own way on an individual and provides students with balance and harmony within collective level.” their education.” A prosperous North is therefore a Bringing together all these stories, Cole Smith North in which people are connected to each other, concluded the panel: “What prosperity means to to family and to community - all through the land us… is healthy families, healthy communities and - and where they have tools in both worlds: “[this] healthy land. Prosperity means honest and strong starts with myself, then family, then community and leaders who are grounded in traditional values that so on until we are strong like two people” (Brooke have helped communities thrive on this land for Hope). centuries. We are talking about a thriving knowl- For the Dechinta students, traditional leadership edge-economy, not a resource-driven economy. We is necessary to achieve this alternative vision of pros- are talking about ways of knowing and the econo- perity. Stacy Sundberg described how her family, her mies of ways of knowing that can produce critical culture, and her experience at Dechinta, and living Northern thinkers that can engage policy and en- on the land all combined to inspire her to become gage decision-making from a Northern perspective. a leader. At Dechinta, she explained, the students Prosperity to us is related more to social, environ- rotated leadership responsibilities; each person co- mental, and cultural well-being than it is to profits ordinated daily learning activities as well as commu- and development. To us, this is what will sustain the nicating and scheduling with elders, instructors and North.”◉ students. These leadership duties were oriented to the group rather than the individual and, for Sta- Cole Smith was a student with Dechinta Bush University. He lives cy they also involved learning from her people on in Portland, Oregon. her traditional territory. She went on to quote a col- lective statement by the Dechinta students: “Strong Darcy Leigh is a doctoral candidate in Politics and International leaders are rooted in tradition. They are honest, Relations at University of Edinburgh. patient and funny. They know who they are; they

34 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 ECONOMY The Northern economy: Lessons from industry Don Bubar

he resource industry, particularly the miner- needs a stable and predictable regulatory process als industry, offers tremendous opportunity to for environmental reviews and permitting. This does Tcreate wealth in the North. The Northwest Territo- not exist right now. Companies need to know that ries represents one of the most mineral-rich juris- when they invest capital there is some predictability dictions anywhere on Earth with its vast diversity in to what is required and how long it will take before mineral resources, as well as hydrocarbons. Further, they can get a new project permitted. That is not the mineral deposits found in this area are among the case here currently and therefore capital is going the very best quality found anywhere in the world. elsewhere where there is more predictability. This is The diamond mines are a good example of that, a very important priority for the NWT going for- as well as Pine Point’s lead-zinc operations. I think ward. There is an enormous opportunity in this hot Avalon Rare Metals’ discovery at Thor Lake, with commodity market. It is sometimes referred to as the Nechalacho Rare Earth Element deposit, will be the super cycle. The super cycle is still on and there another example of a truly world-class resource pro- are some dips in the cycle from time to time (we are viding new opportunities for wealth creation in the in one right now) but there is no question that with NWT. I also believe there is a tremendous opportu- the growing world population and emerging mid- nity for Aboriginal peoples to take full advantage. dle-class in Asia and elsewhere, that there will be an I would like to see Aboriginal peoples partici- increasing demand for resources and new produc- pate in this industry to a much greater extent than tion of non-renewable materials going forward. they have in the past. It is absolutely essential for the Moving on to what Avalon is doing, we have this long-term health and sustainability of the industry rare earth element project named Nechalacho, 100 that we have participation from the communities km southeast of Yellowknife in an area known as around which we are working. In most of Northern Thor Lake. The rare earth elements (REEs) play a Canada, especially here in the NWT, those local significant role in today’s technology-driven econo- communities are Aboriginal communities and we my. The REEs are key enablers of a lot of new tech- need their active participation in the industry. Not nology, especially clean technology. We are talking just to provide labour and services, but ultimately about elements such as neodymium, dysprosium, becoming proponents of mineral development; that europium, and yttrium—elements that many have is, having companies that they own and operate as not heard of since their high school chemistry class, explorers and developers in finding the next mines but use every day in their hand-held devices, auto- for the NWT. In order to do that, we need to build mobiles and household appliances. These elements more capacity in all of the communities, which are becoming increasingly more important and the starts with education. Also, we need to start to fa- Nechalacho deposit is one of the most richly en- cilitate more of an entrepreneurial culture in those dowed in these critical raw materials. communities. It is a very entrepreneurial industry at Avalon is planning to develop a secondary pro- the exploration stage and we need more Aboriginal cessing facility, also in the NWT, to take the mineral entrepreneurs to emerge in those communities to concentrate from Thor Lake and further concen- provide the leadership required to build companies trate the rare earths. This is a significantly new de- of tomorrow and be proponents of new mineral de- velopment for the North. Traditionally, concentrates velopment in the North. are produced and shipped out for processing else- Given the inherent mineral wealth that we see where. For the first time, we are proposing to build in the North, the level of investment is nowhere a secondary processing facility in the NWT at a site near what it really should be. It should be about 10 in the Pine Point area on the south side of Great times what it is currently, at least if based purely on Slave Lake. The reason why we selected that area is the opportunity that is represented by the rich min- because it is a brownfield site. It was the historic site eral endowment of the area. The issue is around of lead-zinc mining operations by Cominco in the the regulatory process. The Northwest Territories 1960s through to the 1980s. It does have grid hydro

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 35 power available to it from the Taltson dam and an training program with the Mine Training Soci- existing transportation network to move the materi- ety, Aurora College and Foraco to train Aboriginal al to the rail head at Hay River for shipping south youth to work on diamond drills as helpers, which for further refining. Having two sites means we have is an important part of the exploration process. No had to engage with quite a few different communi- other company had ever done that before at the ex- ties in the Northwest Territories. ploration stage, so we were proud to have had that In relation to our project, we have been engaging opportunity and it was quite successful. There were with the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation, the Deninu a dozen graduates, several of whom are still working K’ue First Nation, and the Yellowknives Dene First in the industry. Nation, but they are not the only interested parties NWT regulations require that companies have in this project. The K’atl’odeeche First Nation near a first aid responder in a remote campsite like ours. Hay River are interested because of the potential When we first started, we had to bring people from business opportunities originating from that area. all across Canada to perform this role. It did not There are also the North Slave Métis, NWT Métis make any sense that there were no people in the Nation, and the Tłichǫ Government whose settled North that could provide that service. It was simply land claim overlaps with the Yellowknives’ Chief a matter of providing training so people here could Drygeese Territory. One of the challenges a com- obtain those skills and do it. We organized that train- pany like ours faces when entering into the North- ing program and ever since we have been able to west Territories to do mineral exploration and de- source first aid responders in the local communities velopment is understanding who our neighbours here. are, what their relationships are and how to develop We have employed a lot of labour at times, with working relationships going forward. It takes some up to 50 percent of our camp staff being Aborig- time to sort out the landscape, but we have been inal at some times. We have been providing con- quite patient about it. tracting opportunities as well, including an airstrip We started very early and had many meetings at the Nechalacho site two years ago that was built with Chiefs, Councillors, Elders and other commu- by Det’on Cho Corporation; a $2,000,000 contract. nity members to introduce them to what we are do- In exploration you do lots of drilling and need ing. We try to allow for a lot of question and answer to put the drill core in boxes. They are just simple periods to help community members understand, wooden trays that you put the drill core samples in. and we listen to their concerns and try to act on Initially we were bringing them in from Winnipeg them. We recognize it takes time to build relation- and reasoned that there ought to be someone up ships and trust, so we started early to ensure we had here that could build these boxes. Some folks in Fort more than enough time before making major invest- Resolution agreed with us and started a new core ment decisions on going into a construction phase. box business and have been supplying us with our It is important to engage with communities early core boxes ever since. We have done some $300,000 and often. The biggest mistake that companies make worth of business with the Deninu K’ue Develop- in exploration and development is not going to the ment Corporation. community early enough to explain what is being Recently, we have been working hard to finalize proposed and the potential opportunities. We make formal agreements, we call them Accommodation this point frequently to our industry peers. Often it is Agreements, with our Akaitcho Dene community difficult to get that dialogue going, but we encourage partners. One of the agreements is complete and companies to persevere and don’t give up after the two are close to finalization. This summer we final- first unanswered phone call. ized an Accommodation Agreement with the Den- Once you get the relationship going and you are inu K’ue First Nation. The headline in the paper working on the ground, it is very important to just described it as an Impacts Benefits Agreement (IBA), continue dialogue and engagement. You have to en- the more common term for these partnership agree- sure communities are always informed on what is ments, but it has some differences with the tradi- happening on the ground. tional IBA-type agreements. The main one is we are Also, we encourage other companies to pro- offering equity participation in the project to these vide employment opportunities to the extent pos- communities. It is a small minority interest, but we sible during the exploration stage, work with local think it is a very significant way for the First Nations contractors and find opportunities for Aboriginal to participate. It means they have an actual owner- business to participate and provide services, as well ship interest in this resource. It is not a simple rev- as provide access to training. We participated in a enue-sharing model offering cash transfers, but it is

36 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 an actual ownership interest in the project. What we ity and how we are going to report on performance are asking them to do is become an active partner in against those commitments. This is the type of re- the project to both share in the risks and share in the port that is more typically produced by larger corpo- rewards of successful development. rations and not so much by small or medium-sized Equity participation provides an opportunity enterprises such as Avalon, but we feel it is import- for active involvement in the industry from which ant to do it at this stage to demonstrate sustainability the community can learn and leverage into other as a core principle of the company. business opportunities and more actively influence We believe the whole industry is going this way industry best practices in managing environmental with everyone starting to recognize the importance impacts. I believe the industry is now moving to- of embracing the principles of environmental and wards this model. The traditional IBA model that social responsibility. We wanted to show some lead- involved fixed payments on an annual basis, unrelat- ership for our peers in the industry by taking this ed to the scale of an operation or future profitability, step now. We also think it will serve us well in devel- is yesterday’s model. Tomorrow’s model is an equity oping our business down the road as more and more participation model and Avalon is the first Company customers around the world who use the rare earth to introduce it here in the North. So it has taken us elements will insist that producers of this material some time to educate the communities as to what it operate in a sustainable way and demonstrate it to is about and why it is advantageous in the long term. them before they will commit to business. That is It is different, so it is taking quite a while to do, but the growing reality and so by getting in front of it I think we are going to get there in terms of it being we are opening more doors for building our business accepted as tomorrow’s partnership model between and developing new markets for our products going mineral exploration companies and First Nations. forward.◉ Lastly, going forward in the future, we have made a commitment to corporate social responsibil- Don Bubar is Present of Avalon Rare Earth Metals. ity and being a good partner in the community. We have produced a sustainability report that details our commitments to environment and social responsibil-

COMING SPRING 2013: FORTY YEARS AFTER CALDER

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Calder that Aboriginal title existed in Canada prior to colonization and outside of colonial law. This groundbreaking event, together with an increasingly active Aboriginal political movement, forced the federal government into the present phase of treaty-making. Since 1975, twenty-four agreements have been signed with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis nations across Canada, and many of these are in the North. In honour of these significant milestones, Northern Public Affairs will dedicate its next regular issue of the magazine to a far-reaching discussion of contemporary treaty implementation. ECONOMY Challenges in understanding the emerging Northern economy Frances Abele

n the Northwest Territories, people from many ing how to achieve their vision. What specific mea- walks of life seem to share a vision of how the sures (policies, programs, agreements, practices) will Ifuture should unfold. They imagine an economy or- bring Northerners the future that they envision, and ganized so that natural resource development pro- allow them to avoid dangers such as yawning dis- vides necessary jobs and business opportunities while parities in social well-being, environmental degrada- providing essential revenue to both the government tion, and instability? of the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal govern- Northerners’ deliberations on their economic ments and organizations. Such development should future have been largely centred on their region: be contained, controlled and paced in such a way Aboriginal rights, protection of the land, as well as that it does not destroy too much of the land. North- the need to perfect suitable regional institutions, to ern societies should have time to adjust and prepare wrest control of economic levers from the federal for the changes that development brings. Aboriginal government, and to achieve balanced mitigation of land rights must be respected. Northern businesses cumulative impacts. These concerns have resulted and workers should realize not only short term gains in major institutional reforms, including what many but long-term benefits from economic development people hope will be a viable institutional basis for in their territories, and so should Northern society strong Aboriginal societies thriving in a healthy mul- as a whole. ticultural territory. Many of the new institutions This vision of the best possible Northern econ- and practices are still evolving, and surely some will omy is the result of nearly forty years’ search for in the end prove to be effective. Necessarily, the focus ways to balance non-renewable resource develop- has been on territorial arrangements, and the rela- ment with care of the land and protection of the tionship between territorial interests and the federal harvesting economy. Northerners have often done government. their thinking about this from an awkward position, While these matters rightly have occupied cen- compelled to focus on public discussion of single tre stage, though, it is evident that near exclusive mega-projects, mines or pipelines, making decisions focus on territorial matters and relations with the in a “now or never” near-crisis situation. But there federal government is insufficient in a time when the have also been moments of research and reflection, opportunities and economic challenges facing terri- during which decision-makers searched for a mod- torial residents are global, and massive. Increasing- el of balanced development that would benefit all ly, the economic prospects of the Northwest Terri- of the peoples and communities of the north. Ma- tories depend upon international financial markets jor milestones have been the 1970s inquiry into the and international demand for Northern resources. construction of a pipeline in the Mackenzie Valley These markets are volatile and they are utterly inde- (the Berger Report), the work of the 1980s Special pendent of what Northerners may choose or desire. Committee on the Northern Economy (SCONE) This creates a significant challenge for economic de- and the Northern Oil and Gas Assessment Pro- velopment planning. How much choice do people in gram (NOGAP) research projects, and in the 1990s the North really have? and 2000s, the West Kitikmeot Slave Study (and There are no simple answers to this question. Ev- updates), and the many hearings and deliberations erywhere in the world, natural resource dependent concerning mines and pipelines that culminated in economies face three large challenges. The first of the far-sighted report of the Joint Review Panel on these is often referred to as the boom and bust cycle: the Mackenzie Gas Project, Foundation for a Sus- how should societies respond to the extraordinary tainable Northern Future (2010). volatility in the demand for resources, and the re- If these research and discussion opportunities lated fluctuations in the availability of development have provided Northerners with the opportunity capital? Both booms and busts bring their own de- to come to a consensus on the future they hope to structive forces: booms make some wealthy but they build, there remain many challenges in understand- also encourage waste. For both governments and in-

38 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 dividuals, sudden surplus revenue is easily dissipated, vesting for sustenance are less vulnerable to markets leaving little of lasting value behind. During busts, than those who do not. Both of these important which often come on suddenly, local businesses and stabilizers have the protection of a well-developed workers suffer a loss of spending capacity, and so do regulatory system that relies upon public partici- the public coffers. The social impact of booms and pation to mediate among various interests. Finally, busts can be cumulative, though not much is under- Northerners have a society in which cooperation stood about how to ensure that what accumulates is and mutual aid are highly regarded, embedded in beneficial to the variety of ways in which North- ern peoples make their living. How much choice do people in the North really have? The second challenge, which has received a fair degree of attention in the Northwest Territo- social practices well-established long before industri- ries, is how to determine what might be called car- al transformation of the north began. These are all rying capacity: how much pollution and disruption substantial assets. of wildlife can or should be tolerated? These deter- Of course, both the public sector and the har- minations are becoming more complex, given the vesting economy are now intricately linked to nat- increasing strain on the Northern environment due ural resource development, and growing more de- to the changing climate and airborne pollutants re- pendent upon it as that sector grows. As Northern leased elsewhere. As is well recognized, making the governments and institutions become independent right choices concerning environmental impact is of federal transfers for their expenditures (as a re- crucial for human well-being, particularly in a terri- sult of land claims agreements and devolution), they tory where harvesting the living gifts of the land are will become more dependent upon tax revenue from still integral to many people’s livelihoods. natural resource development. Harvesting now re- The third challenge concerns the distribution of quires a substantial cash subsidy, whether the source the wealth generated by resource development: how be wages or public sector transfers of various kinds; can these revenues be collected and shared so as to many people now seek employment in part so that improve the circumstances of everyone, weighing they can continue to afford to provide food for their against social inequality rather than enhancing it? families from the land. The very circumstances that Very commonly, in other parts of the world mineral permit Northerners a certain level of independence wealth has brought more rather than less inequality. and choice tie them ever more tightly to global It is not automatic that an economy built upon natu- market forces. In this respect, the circumstances of ral resource development will benefit all members of Northerners converge with those of people living in the society; for this to be the case, positive measures the rest of Canada, whether one considers the dein- (and a steady hand) are necessary. dustrialization of Ontario and the compounding People in the Northwest Territories have signif- impact of the 2007-8 global financial crisis there, icant advantages as they confront these challenges. or the long petroleum-fuelled boom in Alberta. All Northern economies have the stabilizing benefits of have their source in global markets. public sector expenditure levels characteristic of a Considering the importance of the factors that prosperous country; in contrast to what is the case I have just been reviewing, it seems important that in many mineral-dependent economies elsewhere in there be wide public discussion of possible ways and the world, governments in Canada can and do de- means. One would wish for discussion that was in- ploy public expenditures strategically for social and formed by the integration of community-based re- economic purposes. They have affordable access to search — infused with local knowledge and values credit and they may rely upon the resilience of a — with regional, territorial and Canada-wide mac- relatively large national economy itself buoyed by roeconomic analysis and assessment. There is in fact abundant natural resources in virtually every region very little of this going on, and little public discus- of a large country. Northern communities are also sion of how to approach the three challenges that stabilized by access to the important base of country increasingly reliance upon resource development food and the other sources of well-being that North- will bring. ern lands provide; people who rely partly upon har- In part this silence seems to be a result of the

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 39 absence of permanent convening institutions and out a license, and so may have escaped my notice. the crippling absence of a Northern-based univer- But a scan of published articles in Arctic and The sity or network of think tanks. Northwest Territories Northern Review, Northern publications of record news media seem largely to have set aside broader in Canada, does not contradict these findings. economic questions. There is also a failure of the Clearly, if Northerners are to find ways of re- Canadian research community as a whole to devise alizing their vision of the best possible economic means to effectively disseminate the knowledge they future for their region, action is needed on a num- do generate, with some important exceptions. Above ber of fronts. There is an urgent need for more pol- all, there is simply a startling lack of research inter- icy-relevant research and especially, public debate est in the largest questions facing Northerners today. about findings. The news media and researchers As a rough measure, consider the list of licensed alike need to do a better job of making use of what research published by Aurora Research Institute. research has been conducted, so that the analyses They report licensing over 5,000 research projects published by such bodies as the Joint Review Panel between 1974 and the present. Of these, most are on the Mackenzie Gas Project and the West Kitik- natural science studies. Less than one-quarter fall meot Slave Study Society are widely understood and into the domain of social scientific research, includ- publicly discussed. And, perhaps most importantly ing health research and traditional knowledge. The of all, Northerners and Northern scholars must be- situation is worse concerning the questions that I gin the work of understanding how to ensure that have been discussing here. Research that will help the integration of the north into the world economy us understand the dynamics of the Northern econ- can be done on the best possible terms for Northern omy — at the community, regional or territorial lev- residents, and for Canada.◉ el — comprises less than 4 percent of all research that was licensed. Certainly some research, partic- Dr. Frances Abele is Professor in the School of Public Policy ularly macroeconomic research, is conducted with- and Administration at Carleton University. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Three issues for $28 (plus GST/HST where applicable)

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Above: Plenary session; Below: Arlene Hache at the registration desk, Yellowknife, October 2012. ECONOMY Resource wealth: Opportunities & challenges Diana Gibson

Editor’s note: This is a transcript of Diana Gibson’s presen- not cheap. The cost of living is usually driven up tation at the Northern Governance and Economy Conference dramatically, population influxes put pressure on ex- isting infrastructure and social services, industry re- iscovering resources in your province or ter- quires more infrastructure, housing becomes scarce, ritory can be the equivalent of winning the housing prices and rents go up, and land prices rise. lottery,D but can there be too much of a good thing? For people on fixed incomes or in low-wage jobs out- This question of the challenges of resource wealth side the resource sector, these changes can actually has been explored in a wide body of academic lit- erode their income and housing affordability, mak- erature under the paradox of plenty or the resource ing them worse off. curse. The reliance on commodity prices in a resource The most obvious cases are places like Sierra dependent economy can also mean increased vola- Leone or Liberia and blood or conflict diamonds. tility, as those prices are prone to large fluctuations. Oil in many African countries is also commonly as- sociated with erosion of democracy, corruption and Inequality The gap between the haves and have- conflict. There is certainly a stark contrast between nots often widens with resource wealth. The dynam- these examples and developed and more democratic ics of the boom-bust economy can mean that the economies such as those of Alberta or the NWT. rich become richer and the poor poorer. Resource However, Alberta and the NWT still pale in extraction is still a male dominated business with few comparison to Norway for resource development women represented in the higher wage jobs or at the that benefits current and future generations. executive level. Thus, a resource boom also often This article will look at Alberta as a case study widens gender inequality. of the resource curse and the paradox of plenty. It Another form of equity impacted is that of in- will then turn to look at how Norway has avoided tergenerational inequity. Governments with resource a number of those traps. Finally, it explores where wealth have great temptation to use the wealth for the NWT sits and what can be done to maximize increased spending or lower taxes, both of which the return to people in the territories and minimize may help their short-term political futures. The next the risks. generation is often given short shrift.

◉◉◉ Less reliance on taxes Resource wealth comes with a high risk that governments will use that wealth The Paradox of Plenty to cut taxes to gain short-term election advantages. This is tied to the risks of volatility and vulnerability According to Terry Karl, who teachers at Stan- to external shocks as it increases the reliance on re- ford University, common key challenges associated source revenue for ongoing expenditures. with resource wealth in the literature on the ‘para- dox of plenty’ include: Less democracy Lower taxation reduces gov- • Boom and bust economy ernment reliance on the citizenry and undermines • Inequality democracy. As per the common refrain: there is no • Less reliance on taxes representation without taxation. The effect of both • Less democracy oil and mineral wealth in impeding democracy has • Regulatory capture been found to be robust. According to Thomas This article will explain each of these in turn Friedman’s First Law of Petropolitics, the higher the and then look at how the three case studies compare average global crude oil price rises, the more free by these measures. speech, free press, free and fair elections, an inde- pendent judiciary, the rule of law, and independent Boom and bust economy Resource booms are political parties are eroded.

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 43 This can be reflected in low voter turnout, long-reining demagogues or political regimes, Boom/Bust Volatility A 2010 report by the C.D. lack of free speech, and the centralization of deci- Howe Institute disclosed that Alberta has the most sion-making powers. volatile government revenues, with the most predict- able of results: “Volatile revenues can lead to the Regulatory capture As governments cut their inefficient provision of government services” and taxes, they become increasingly beholden to re- “stop-go” fiscal policies. source extraction corporations. This often leads the erosion of balance and accountability in the regula- Inequality Alberta’s income is very unequally dis- tion of the industry. Both environmental regulation tributed. Alberta has the richest rich and the poorest and monitoring become watered down and biased poor in the nation. Alberta’s top one percent have in favor of industry. the highest average incomes in the nation. Half of Alberta’s households have a full 82 percent of total ◉◉◉ household income. Though the province has fewer people living in Alberta: Illustrating the paradox of plenty poverty than in other provinces and territories, those living in poverty are in much deeper or more intense Alberta has high average incomes and lower un- poverty. Alberta has the highest percentage of work- employment compared to the rest of Canada. Cer- ing poor and children using a food bank in Canada. tainly for those in the resource economy, and many Alberta also has the largest gender gap in wages in outside of it, life looks good. However, average in- the nation. comes mask differences. Intergenerational equity also suffers in Alberta. A 2007 Leger marketing poll at the height of Alberta’s Heritage Fund has stagnated since it was the boom in Alberta asked Albertans, “Are Alber- established. Between 1987 and 2006 the fund lost tans benefiting from the boom?” The majority said, value. In 2012 it is still faltering while the rainy day “Yes.” Then the poll asked, “Are you benefiting fund has evaporated into budget deficits driven by from the boom?” The majority said, “No.” And 17 artificially low taxation levels. percent said they were worse off. Obviously, the re- source boom is costing many Albertans more than it Taxes Alberta has cut taxes dramatically, and uses is giving them. almost all of its resource wealth to fund current ex-

Figure 1

Source: Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers data as extracted by Regan Boychuk and published in “Misplaced Generosity: Extraordinary profits in Alberta’s oil and gas industry.” Parkland Institute, University of Alberta, November 25, 2010 penditures. This makes the economy quite vulnera- subsequently issued a retraction and an apology. ble to external shocks. The province has by far the Dr. John O’Connor raised flags about unusual lowest taxes in Canada and amongst the lowest in cancers in Fort Chipewyan, downstream of the oil- North America. This is a self-reinforcing mechanism sands industry. The Alberta government consistently with the dependence of the province on resource ex- denied the findings, while Alberta government em- traction. ployees quietly “assisted” Health Canada in pursu- Corporate tax cuts, have meant that corporate ing charges against O’Connor at the Alberta College profits more than doubled their share of Alberta’s of Physicians and Surgeons. The college eventually economy from 1989 to 2012. While corporate profits rejected all of those charges and the Alberta Cancer are up, social spending is down. From 1989 to 2008, Board ultimately released a study confirming high- Alberta’s spending as a portion of GDP shrank 40 er-than-expected levels of rare cancers. percent while corporate profits more than doubled In summary, Alberta certainly fits the bill for their share. Terry Lynn Karl’s paradox of plenty: a petroleum Studies have shown that Alberta has also fore- boom that produces poverty, inequality and a crisis gone over a $100 billion in revenues just by failing of democracy.. to meet its own royalty capture targets. Royalties are not a tax. They are the value of the resource to the ◉◉◉ public. Like a steel manufacturing plant has to buy steel, it is the price oil and gas companies pay for Norway: the Exception the resource. Former premier Peter Lougheed had a target of capturing 35 percent of royalties, Ralph Oil is on the decline, passed peak but the Nor- Klein modified that to 20 percent then it was elim- wegians have a lot to show for it. Norway has about inated all together. As Can be seen in Figure 1, the $600 billion in the petroleum fund, strong econom- province was capturing just a little above 10 percent ic growth, and low levels of inequality. Norway has in 2010. used a very different approach to developing its oil and gas. This includes: Democracy Voter turnout is a key indicator of de- • Stable economy mocracy. In 1993, Alberta’s voter turnout was just • Less inequality over 60 percent but by 2008 it had fallen to an all • Savings for the current and next generation time low of 40.6 percent. Although it did pick up • Higher taxation to 57 percent in the most recent contested provin- • Higher royalties cial elections. For contrast in 1935, turnout was 82 • Higher social spending percent . • More democratic with higher voter turnout Regulatory capture Alberta spent ten times more on drilling incentives than on the entire envi- Boom-bust economy The Norwegian economy ronment ministry. At one point the government was has a large tax base, a large public sector, and is not spending more on marketing and advertising its oil dependent on resource revenues for in-year budget and gas sector than on monitoring and regulating it. expenditures. Thus, it has avoided the boom bust The role of whistleblowers in Alberta is anoth- nature of resource dependent economies. Norway er indicator of regulatory capture and the erosion entered the last recession later than Alberta and of democracy. They face much more than being ig- most OECD nations, had the shallowest dip, and nored- from denying science to defaming scientists. came out with the highest consumer confidence in The most glaring example is that of the Energy and the OECD. Utilities Board hiring spies in 2007 to infiltrate a Norway has also avoided Dutch disease by keep- landowners organization and report back to them ing the resource money out of the economy. The and the proponent. There are many other examples. vast majority of resource revenues are put into a Scientists Peter Lee and Dr. Kevin Timoney stand alone ‘Pension Fund’ that is invested outside published a scientific report in 2009, that dared sug- the country in ethical investments. Norway also gest that “physical and ecological changes that result heavily focused on value added so that they are sell- from oilsands industrial activities” are “detectable.” ing refined products not oil. This would be similar to Data that has since been corroborated and shown to the NWT selling diamond rings not diamonds. have been conservative by other studies. A Section Head at Alberta Environment accused them of lying High Taxes Norway is considered a high tax ju- and fudging the data. The Attorney General’s Office risdiction and did not use its resource wealth to cut

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 45 taxes. It also has one of the highest spending to GDP creased costs that challenge the Territory at every rations in the OECD. turn. According to OECD data Norway also recovers In 2012 I budget documents, the government a higher percentage of the rent. Norway leaves com- says “We are investigating the possibility of a Reve- panies with 22 percent of net revenue, while Alber- nue Stabilization Fund, similar to that in other prov- ta allows companies a take of 53 percent . Since the inces, to more actively manage sharp increases and 1970s, Norway as a matter of policy has collected decreases in revenues.” This was recommended to between 70 percent and 80 percent of the resource the government years ago but has not yet been done. wealth generated from their oil industry through It would mitigate some of the volatility associated with resource de- Without the right social and tax frameworks, it can mean an erosion pendence. of an already compromised existence for many. It is critical to ensure Inequality The that there is a solid framework in place to protect the people against NWT is not nearly as unequal as Al- the risks of the resource curse and ensure that if the development goes berta in that the top ahead, it is for the benefit of all, not the few. one percent is not quite as rich. How- ever, the threshold public ownership, corporate taxes twice as high as to get in to the top 1 percent is the third highest in Canada’s, and a special tax on oil profits. Norway the nation, indicating that the top 1 percent are very also required that foreign companies train Norwe- wealthy. gian workers, transfer proprietary technologies to At the other end of the income spectrum, not their state-owned oil company Statoil, and in some just those on fixed incomes but the working poor are cases even hand over producing oil platforms free of being negatively impacted by the booming economy charge after a predetermined period. and high cost of living. This is especially the case in housing affordability and housing quality. Democracy Higher taxes and a larger public sec- First Nations communities are concentrated at tor have meant a stronger democratic tradition in the lower income levels and see the largest levels of Norway. Norway ranks as the world’s best-governed inequality. At the Fortune minerals hearings in Beh- nation according to the Democracy Index. chokö, a First Nations member of the Tlicho said, “Diamond mining just puts money into the pockets Inequality By many measures, Norway is a place of people from the South and brings differences for of less inequality. It is routinely ranked number one our families and communities between haves and in the world on the Human Development Index, have-nots.” and is the best country in the world to be a mother. Intergenerational equity is also an issue in the Regulatory capture Norway is ranked number NWT. The legacy Heritage Fund is dormant, de- three in the world on the Environmental Perfor- spite the fact that there is no need to wait for devolu- mance Index (Canada is thirty-seventh, behind Nic- tion. It could be implemented immediately with the aragua, Albania and Colombia). introduction of a resource tax. This could capture over $100 million in revenues annually. ◉◉◉ Devolution is not a silver bullet. Alberta has control of resource revenue and saves almost none. The Northwest Territories Devolution will also mean that the federal govern- ment will not be giving the same kind of transfer Like Alberta, the NWT has high average in- payments to the territory. comes, and a fast growing economy. The Northwest Territories is somewhere between Alberta and Nor- Taxation There are revenue options that are not way on the resource curse spectrum. being pursued in the NWT today. A resource tax was one of the key items not yet taken up. Boom/bust volatility There are reports ofHous- A look at provincial and territorial tax brackets ing shortages, and a growing infrastructure deficit, shows that there are six jurisdictions with a tax rate which is currently estimated at $3 billion over the that is higher for the top income tax bracket than next five years. Budget document states that in- the NWT. This leaves plenty of room for higher tax

46 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 rates. The centralization tendencies of the resource This does not include the coming changes: Que- curse can be seen in the NWT where regional struc- bec’s personal combined top marginal income tax tures are under pressure. For example, the regional rates could spike to as high as 55.22 percent as well co-management land and water boards that are in as the new Ontarian tax bracket on those whose tax- the nascent stage are under review with pressures for able income exceeds $500,000 and the surtax of 56 them to be centralized. percent . ◉◉◉ Democracy Voter turnout has been falling in the NWT. Voter turnout in the most recent territorial Conclusions election was the lowest in the territory since 1999, which is the earliest year Elections NWT has data Alberta is a clear cautionary tale. The NWT is available. About 57 percent voted in 2007’s election, vulnerable and it will be important to ensure that compared to 69 percent in 2003, and 70 percent in systems are put into place to continue to monitor 1999. and manage against the paradox of plenty. It is clear Minister Ramsay was wrong — any Regulatory capture There are big challenges resource development is not necessarily a good with regulatory capture in a smaller jurisdiction thing. Without the right social and tax frameworks, with such high stakes mining. Industry, Tourism and it can mean an erosion of an already compromised Investment minister Dave Ramsay said: “Any invest- existence for many. It is critical to ensure that there ment in the NWT is a good investment.” This is is a solid framework in place to protect the people clearly indicative of a direction that does not include against the risks of the resource curse and ensure saying no to a project where the environmental and that if the development goes ahead, it is for the ben- social stakes are too high. efit of all, not the few. Devolution would only increase these pressures At the Fortune minerals hearings in Behchokö, at the national level, the diamond industry is a small- over 40 community members spoke about alterna- er player in a larger mix of industry interests? At tive futures for their community. It is also important the territorial level, the government is dealing with a to be open to and build these alternative futures for much smaller number of companies and the power communities and the Northwest Territories Even if dynamics are different. the resources extraction goes ahead, it is finite and Also, there are already elements of regulatory will run its course.◉ capture at the federal level. The federal government has been directly interfering by pressuring regula- Diana Gibson is President at PolicyLink Research and Con- tory boards to speed up timelines on behalf of the sulting, Director at The Firelight Group Research Coopera- corporations. tive, and former Director of the Parkland Institute.

Visit northernpublicaffairs.ca for more news & analysis from across the North. SOCIETY The economy, governance, & social suffering

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox

“One job can feed four families. If one person is forms of poverty, low educational attainment, high working he can support others to buy gas, nets, go out on incidences of disease, and a variety of other condi- the land. One job means a lot in the small communities tions that have been called “third world” by a Adri- of the NWT.” enne Clarkson, during her term as Governor Gen- — Willard Hagen, Gwich’in aviator and current eral of Canada. Chair of the Mackenzie Valley Impact Review Board If we look at living conditions of Indigenous Social Suffering in the Northwest Territories peoples around the world, it is evident that there are two common elements. The first is diversity: differ- aving income to share from one wage-econ- ent climates, ecosystems, spiritualities, ways of life, omy job can support others to go out on the languages. The second is that despite these dramatic landH and hunt and fish, an activity that is becoming differences, where Indigenous peoples have expe- critically important as food prices rise and housing rienced colonization, wherever we go in the world crises grow in many of the small communities in the we see common manifestations of social suffering. NWT. While Yellowknife boasts the highest average Colonized peoples the world over share a similar household income in the country, the Indigenous pain. This is where the explanatory power of the populations of places like Paulatuk are living in cri- social suffering paradigm helps us to make sense of ses anchored in poverty and the hopelessness specific common responses in peoples who are oceans apart: to colonial conditions. wherever there are populations traumatized by col- Colonization creates what is known as social suf- onization, the outcomes are invariably similar. The fering: a paradigm drawn from the work of anthro- suffering apparent in NWT communities is not the pologists and sociologists seeking to account for ways fault of the people who live there. It is not about in which government policies and decision making them, who they are, their cultures, languages, skin results in massive traumas on a collective scale with- color, or some innate inability to conform. It is not in targeted populations. Essentially the theory pos- about any of that. Rather, the result of this suffer- its that in cases where populations have undergone ing is the deliberate and sustained policy choices trauma on a collective scale — war, genocide, colo- of successive governments that continue to mar- nization — the logical outcomes include social suf- ginalize and dispossess Indigenous peoples of their fering on a collective scale. Colonial traumas range lands, and so their spirituality, culture and way of from historical events such as residential school and life resulting in profound psychological and material forced removals and relocations, for example, to on- impacts. Those policy choices create circumstanc- going law and policies such as the Indian Act, which es where the root causes of suffering are reinforced continues to lead to dispossession of lands and re- rather than removed. sources, systemic racism, and ongoing social conse- And when government provides assistance to quences — where peoples’ cultures, families, com- communities, its policies are directed in ways that munities and autonomy were targeted for erasure do not change the fundamental circumstance that and destruction. give rise to suffering. Instead the programs and ser- In the NWT, many think that land claims have vices offered are meant to deal with the symptoms helped to address and to some extent mitigate im- of those policies. Such programs focus on initiatives pacts of colonization. Others see land claim agree- relating to education, training, addictions treatment ments as part of the suite of colonial policies that and more. While they are needed and necessary, continue to focus on removing Indigenous peoples there is also a glaring absence - government does from the land and alienating them from decision not go beyond providing band-aids to the wounds making over their traditional territories, resources, that its’ own policies inflict. In this way the state po- rights, culture and way of life. In the final analysis sitions itself as a savior while in reality it continues it seems that even in regions where there are land with policies perpetuating suffering. So the expect- claims, there is still significant social suffering in the able outcome is that suffering will continue. It will

48 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 continue despite land claims agreements, despite age to secure was the creation of a resource manage- self-government deals, despite jobs and training of- ment system legislating local involvement in decision fered by resource extraction projects. making over lands and water use. In many commu- nities in the NWT such involvement is critical be- What the social suffering paradigm tells us is that cause many Indigenous peoples still live on the land. until government policies and actions resulting in It is also critical because in many of those commu- suffering are changed, the trend will continue. These nities the costs of food and housing are prohibitive policies currently manifest in alienating Indigenous for significant portions of the population. Being able peoples from their land through removing control to hunt and fish at a level required to sustain the over lands and resources and restricting their deci- bulk of an extended families’ food consumption is sion-making power over their present and future. non-negotiable. A mine or extraction project forc- ing caribou away from their usual migration routes ◉◉◉ could prove devastating on social, cultural and eco- nomic levels, as has been the case for communities in The Economy and Social Conditions the Akaitcho and Tlicho regions. So a recent unilateral proposal by Canada to The implications of social suffering for the do away with regional land and water boards and economy in the NWT are far reaching and to some concentrate decision making power within one extent require an economic development approach “super-board” (centrally located in Yellowknife) is that cannot escape the necessity to have social re- viewed as gutting the heart of NWT land claims, sponsibility at its core. If that approach does neglect and at the same time, the relationship between Can- social responsibility, it does so at its own peril. Ap- ada and the land claim signatories. This is due in no proximately one-third of the NWT Gross Domestic small part to the reality that Canada is removing de- Product is contributed by the resource extraction cision-making power from the people who must bear sector: oil, gas and mining. The resulting economic the brunt of resource extraction’s negative impacts. development has some positive economic impacts: There is also the psychological impact of having to it creates jobs and a tax base, inspires educational watch this decision-making authority transferred to attainment and represents a real potential for the yet another Yellowknife-based institution, far from material improvement in the lives of many people the reality on the ground. Canada argues regula- who live here. tory reform is necessary to foster economic invest- However in the Northwest Territories, about ment; that the regulatory process in the NWT is too half of the population is Indigenous: Dene, Metis complex. However seasoned observers, including ,and Inuvialuit. Scattered over an area of more than mining interests, have instead pointed to Canada’s a million kilometers, the vast majority of Indigenous own failure as a serious cause for concern. Decisions peoples live in small, isolated communities far from on projects languish on the Minister of Aboriginal each other and far from Yellowknife, the seat of our Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s desk. territorial government. These are the places where Moreover, offices at AANDC, which should be peo- evidence of suffering is most stark: dirt roads are pled with officials charged with moving initiatives lined by small, modest homes, many overcrowded forward, remain empty under government hiring and in need of major repair. In these places the jobs freezes. Board appointments are delayed until suit- are few and many families eat only because family able partisan appointees can be found, who then members can still hunt and fish for subsistence. Yet cause delays in or jeopardize environmental assess- this is a practice that has been hampered in areas ment hearings through their ideological grandstand- such as the Tlicho Region, where it is widely be- ing. These same observers note that the regulato- lieved that a ban on caribou hunting — a cultural ry reform process is not broken in the NWT; it is and nutritional mainstay of the people — is a direct simply unfinished. The Dehcho and Akaitcho need result of migratory routes being sacrificed to the di- land claim agreements completed in order for the amond mines that now claim that land. corresponding regulatory system to be completed. This picture is as accurate in the “unsettled” re- After all, it is those agreements that would create gions as in those where land claim settlement agree- the mechanisms for planning, consultation and deci- ments have been reached. In fact, in some commu- sion-making with Indigenous peoples. However in- nities it is impossible to tell from the look of things if stead of resourcing those processes and moving for- its residents are beneficiaries of a land claim or not. ward, rumors abound that those very tables are to be One thing that land claim agreements did man- cut under an unrelated exercises taking place within

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 49 AANDC (the federal government has announced it mental, social and economic impacts. Simply put, will be cutting “unproductive” negotiations tables — the GNWT will need to maximize desperately need- some feeling that “unproductive” is a euphemism for ed resource revenues available to it under the RRS failure to acquiesce to federal negotiating positions). agreement. Canada and the GNWT both have a variety of ◉◉◉ policy instruments at their disposal to both alleviate sources of suffering and to establish an approach to Impacts of the Big Picture devolution and resource revenue sharing that would promote economic and social wellness. Such instru- The trend toward centralizing power at the ex- ments have been evident at various moments in the pense of communities and land claim governments past (and in different contexts). Examples include that have established political conventions for shar- the entrenchment of power sharing as the basis of ing power through land claims is a theme prominent governance through resource management regimes within current devolution negotiations in the NWT. as per the political conventions developed under the The devolution deal will transfer administrative au- Dene claims; the establishment of a social impact thority over lands and waters to the Government of fund, as was the case with the Mackenzie Gas Proj- the Northwest Territories. In those talks, some Indig- ect, where all impacted regions would access fund- enous peoples have been represented, and some not. ing to address specific impacts in accordance with As the details of the agreement leak out it is becom- their own needs; building in measures to establish ing apparent that devolution will involve the GNWT a Permanent Fund as Alberta did with its resource taking on land claim responsibilities from Canada. It royalties under Premier Lougheed; the imposition is also apparent that the resources required for un- of profit taxes on resource extraction companies as dertaking that work will also be transferred to the Governor Sarah Palin did in Alaska to ensure the GNWT, specifically in Yellowknife. Authority that people of that state benefited from high oil prices; may come to the GNWT (or may stay in Ottawa and Stabilization Funds, employed outside of North — at this time it is not clear) is the power to approve America, that make funds available in ways that or reject resource extraction projects. It is expected “smooth out” the boom and bust tendencies of re- that in addition to regulatory reform changes that source based economies. centralize power in Yellowknife based institutions, The sad truth is that things do not have to be the environmental assessment decision making un- the way they are in the NWT. Approaches to shap- der the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act will ing the territorial economy must begin with a NWT either stay in Ottawa or shift to Yellowknife. It seems government prepared to fight for the interests of the that under devolution, Indigenous communities will people, and to preserve and foster strong relation- have decreased power over decision-making, and ships between the different regions and competing waning influence over how lands and waters in their interests. When the going gets tough, it is relation- territories are used. ships that carry a territory as diverse as the NWT Related to this is what is known as the Resource through difficult times. In the current climate, where Revenue Sharing (RRS) Agreement attached to the social suffering is rampant, and devolution and devolution deal. Canada’s main intent seems to be regulatory reform are being shaped largely by the on keeping rather than sharing. Under the RRS interests of those faraway and narrowly impacted, terms, the GNWT can keep up to 5 percent of the relationships — between governments, regions and Gross Expenditure Base, or about $60 million of re- people - are unraveling. The Government of Can- source royalties coming from the NWT. This “keep- ada would do well to consider that its approach to ing” approach on the part of Canada ensures that opening up the North for business is seriously desta- resource extraction activity will work in conjunction bilizing it well into the future, economically, socially with the power imbalance in the territory to produce and politically.◉ a solid foundation for inequality and governance in- stability. Combining this process with an outdated, Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox is a Research Associate with the 19th century resource royalty regime that sells NWT Institute of Circumpolar Health Research in Yellowknife and also resources more cheaply than anywhere else in North holds appointments as an Assistant Professor at the University of America, it is widely expected that a cash-strapped Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department GNWT will be pre-disposed to approving resource of Political Science. She is a Research Associate with the Canadian extraction projects despite evident negative environ- Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta; and a Research

50 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 THE ESSAY Pathways to homelessness: Rural-urban migration & housing insecurity in Yellowknife and Inuvik, Northwest Territories Julia Christensen Photo credit: Julia Christensen. Julia Photo credit: ince the late 1990s, homelessness in Northwest populations are predominantly Indigenous, which Territories urban centres has been a significant suggests that homelessness and housing insecurity publicS concern. The emergence of visible homeless- disproportionately affect Indigenous Northerners ness in places like Yellowknife and Inuvik seemed to in Northern settlement communities. These dispar- coincide with a resource development boom, howev- ities point to a geography of uneven development er the nature of homeless peoples’ experiences point (Smith 1994) that threatens to further entrench so- to contributing factors that are much more complex. cioeconomic disadvantage, particularly between ur- At the Northern Governance and Economy Con- ban and rural places. This structural disadvantage, ference in Yellowknife, “Pathways to Prosperity”, though challenging for all Northerners detached housing insecurity and homelessness were repeat- from the urban hubs of socioeconomic opportunity, edly cited by presenters and conference attendees is particularly dire for Northerners who experience alike as significant obstacles to real and meaningful additional social vulnerabilities to homelessness, “prosperity” in the territory. Yet these obstacles are such as people in crisis. unevenly experienced by Northerners. For example, In my research (Christensen 2009, 2011, 2012), homeless men, women, and children in the territory I have found that while the homeless population is are disproportionately Indigenous: anecdotal evi- growing in Northern urban centres like Yellowknife dence suggests that between 90-95 percent of the and Inuvik, many of the homeless men and women visibly homeless population is Dene, Métis, or Inuit in both urban locales originate from smaller, rural (Christensen 2011; Falvo 2011). Housing needs are Northern “settlement” communities. In my presen- also highest in small, Northern settlements where tation to the “Pathways to Prosperity” conference, I

Inuvik, Northwest Territories, 2011. examined the specific role of Northern rural-urban phies lay the foundation for growing homelessness dynamics in a different kind of pathway: pathways in the territory, leading to a series of factors that en- to homelessness. However, while the current North- courage or necessitate rural-urban movement, par- ern economic landscape suggests deepening divides ticularly by community members who already face between large and small communities, we must also ‘compounded disadvantage’ related to trauma, fam- consider the growing socioeconomic disparities ily violence, the child welfare system, or intellectual within large and small communities as well. disabilities (Pleace 1998).

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Northern settlement and housing Rural-urban migration and pathways to homelessness in the Northwest Territories A geography of socioeconomic unevenness between Northern rural settlements and Northern This article is based upon fieldwork that took urban centres tends to widen through resource ex- place from 2007 to 2010 in Yellowknife and Inu- tractive industries and urbanization (Abele 2006). vik, Northwest Territories. I am a non-Indigenous Yellowknife and Inuvik both grew in large part scholar, born and raised in the Northwest Territo- through the development of a non-renewable re- ries, with many years experience as an advocate for source industry, as well as expansion in federal and homeless people in the territory. My relationships territorial administrative activity. Meanwhile, most and familiarity with homeless men and women in Northern rural settlement communities are instead both communities, as well as support providers, the result of the Canadian government’s resettle- greatly facilitated this research. In total, I conducted ment policy of the mid-20th century, which was a 95 interviews with homeless men and women using deliberate effort to centralize previously nomadic a biographical interview approach to illustrate “the Indigenous populations across Northern Canada factors shaping a person’s movements in and out of (Wenzel 2008). As a result, many Northern settle- homelessness” (May 2000, 615). I also conducted 55 ment communities were not formed around a stable in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conduct- economic base, and a critical shortage of formal sec- ed with representatives from the territorial and Ab- tor employment opportunities persists (Bone 2003; original governments, representatives of non-gov- Collings 2005). Today, the uneven development of ernmental organizations, and support providers. In the Northern economic landscape is accelerated this article, I explore two main factors guiding the through major resource development projects, such rural-urban migration of Indigenous Northerners as diamond mines and oil and gas development, at risk of homelessness, factors that connect to the where economic activities, including employment many themes highlighted over the course of the opportunities and private market housing, are con- “Pathways to Prosperity” conference: 1) the concen- centrated in urban centres (Abele 2006). tration of economic opportunities in Northern ur- Similar forms of rural-urban disparity are re- ban centres; and, 2) chronic housing need in small, flected in the geography of Northern housing. Northern settlements. In a previously published ar- While Yellowknife and Inuvik are two of only five ticle (Christensen 2012), I provide a more compre- Northwest Territories communities with function- hensive assessment of the push-pull factors shaping al private housing markets, much of the housing rural-urban migration of Northern men and wom- stock in Northern settlements is public or employ- en at risk of homelessness. For the purposes of the ee housing (GNWT 2010). Dependency on public conference, however, I wanted to focus in on the key housing is compromised by the high rates of “core economic and governance elements of Northern housing need” in the vast majority of settlement homeless geographies. communities. Core housing need is a term used by both the federal and territorial governments to refer ◉◉◉ to housing that does not meet adequacy, suitabili- ty, and affordability norms. In total, 35.5 percent of Employment and educational opportunities households experience core housing need in the ru- in Northern urban centres ral settlement communities, with some communities reporting that as many as 77 percent of households The concentration of employment, education, are in core housing need (ibid 2010). and training opportunities in Northern urban cen- These uneven economic and housing geogra- tres provides a significant draw for all Northerners.

52 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 In both Inuvik and Yellowknife, employment pros- financially supported by the industries in question. pects are a key contributing factor behind the ru- For homeless research participants, however, plans ral-urban migration of research participants (Chris- for education were often interrupted by homesick- tensen 2012). The rise in industrial development, ness, loss of housing due to poor grades or atten- particularly in the areas of diamond mining and oil dance, or relationship problems with a partner. Fur- and gas exploration, make Yellowknife and Inuvik thermore, a lack of adequate formal education and hubs for employment in the resource sector and re- training contributes to job insecurity and low wages. lated industries. Standardization around trades employment pres- Though moving for employment prospects is ents a significant barrier to men and women who are relatively common among the Northern population otherwise skilled but are unable to access the higher in general (Gardner 1994), a shared characteristic wages and more stable employment available if one among homeless men and women is the particular has the necessary accreditation. As Merle, a man type of employment they have access to: highly vari- who has been staying at an emergency shelter in In- able, often seasonal in nature, and often low paying uvik on and off over the past five years says, “you (Christensen 2009). The resulting job instability ex- need your schooling these days, you need your ticket acerbates what is already a precarious housing situ- to work in trades”. In the past, Merle said, he had ation for renters in Yellowknife and Inuvik. Employ- been able to find good work as a carpenter, despite ment security is also threatened by another common the fact that he had no formal training. This same characteristic among research participants: a crimi- flexibility no longer exists in Inuvik and Yellowknife, nal record. A support provider in Yellowknife indi- making it difficult to participate in the wage econo- cated that: my in any consistent way without formal training. Most employers now use a criminal record as a Both Yellowknife and Inuvik are perceived by screening tool. It is a huge barrier. You can apply for homeless research participants as places of econom- a pardon, but there is a very long wait (approximately ic and social opportunity, a perception that often five years) and generally people do not explore that motivates rural-urban movement. However, once option until they have an actual job offer on the ta- in these larger urban centres, employment insecuri- ble and of course by then, it just won’t happen fast ty or obstacles in education and training programs, enough for you to be able to take that job. combined with life challenges such as addiction, A series of changes in the employment poli- contributes to many individual pathways to home- cy landscape in the territory have had a particular lessness through their interaction with the exclusive, impact on those at-risk of homelessness. This not and sometimes punitive, housing and employment includes the implementation of criminal records landscapes (Christensen 2009). checks, but also of certification standards. The in- creased standardization around employment is ◉◉◉ linked closely to the nature of the territorial econ- omy and the hiring policy changes introduced by Core housing need in Northern settlement industry, such as the diamond mines and oil and communities gas companies. These large companies require the businesses they hire on contract to share the same While employment and education opportunities standards. This inflexibility contributes to a sense act as a pulling factor to Northern urban centres, of ‘no more second chances’, particularly since it is core housing need in small Northern settlements in these industries that many homeless people seek often pushes men and women at risk of homeless- work. Furthermore, most minimum wage, entry lev- ness from their home communities. In many small, el positions in the service sector also screen for crim- Northern communities, efforts to change or improve inal records, preventing employment in those areas housing circumstances require leaving home in as well. The result is often a reliance on odd jobs or, search of accommodation in larger centres, where in the case of some, selling carvings or other arts and housing options are more diverse. Close to half of crafts for a bit of cash. all homeless research participants mentioned a lack The uneven landscape of educational oppor- of housing options in their home community as a tunities is an additional motivator for movement reason behind their rural-urban move (Christensen to Yellowknife and Inuvik. Adult educational and 2012). However, though there is a larger number of training opportunities, particularly those geared to- public housing units and a more diverse private rent- wards employment in resource development, tend al housing stock in Yellowknife and Inuvik, housing to be concentrated in urban centres, and many are inaffordability, a lack of public housing for single

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 53 adults, and an exclusive, low-vacancy private rental both Yellowknife and Inuvik, the stiff competition housing market present significant barriers to people for private rental units, and the high demand for at risk of homelessness (Christensen 2009). public housing units, collectively create a tight hous- Overcrowding or a lack of privacy can exacer- ing market that effectively shuts out many Northern bate already strained relationships with family or residents (Christensen 2009). friends. The desire to escape a negative situation was frequently described by research participants as a ◉◉◉ key motivator behind a rural-urban move. Monica, a young homeless woman in Yellowknife indicated Pathways to homelessness? that she moved to Yellowknife to leave a violent part- ner. At home, there was no alternative accommoda- While rural-urban migration is common across tion, nor did she feel safe staying in the community. Canada, it is intensified in the Northwest Territo- In the end, the only suitable option was for her was ries by a geography where the relative economic to leave the community in search of housing in Yel- disadvantage of rural settlements is exacerbated lowknife. Monica’s story touches on the gendered through the uneven geographies generated through nature of rural-urban migration among those at risk resource-extractive economic development (Abele of homelessness. For women, experiences of family 2006). The absence of policy geared towards eco- violence as well as having children placed in foster nomic and infrastructural development in Northern care in Yellowknife were common factors behind ru- rural settlements accentuates this disadvantage by ral-urban movement. passively encouraging movement to urban centres Meanwhile, in Yellowknife and Inuvik, single (Gardner 1994). adults are particularly hard hit by the limited amount Meanwhile, in Yellowknife and Inuvik, inacces- of affordable housing. While public housing is avail- sibility of public housing, high cost of living, hous- able to some extent for families, it is very limited for ing inaffordability, employment insecurity, as well single adults, which leaves them instead highly vul- as the many temptations of urban life, make both nerable to the fluctuations and whims of a private locales challenging environments for those at-risk of housing market. Private rental housing markets, on homelessness (Christensen 2009). A Northern hous- the other hand, are highly exclusive, discriminato- ing strategy, one that includes funding to not only ry and effectively controlled by a small handful of replace or repair old housing units, but also to add rental companies, which exacerbates housing inaf- to the overall affordable housing stock in small and fordability and inaccessibility for homeless men and large communities, is urgently needed in order to women. Single adults unable to secure rental hous- ensure all Northerners have a basic need like hous- ing must then turn to the emergency shelter, where ing met. many homeless men and women stay consistently At the same time, there is a tremendous need for for years. supportive housing programs that combine needed In light of the difficulties faced in larger centres social supports, such as counselling or skills devel- vis-à-vis housing, employment, and social adjust- opment, with social housing. Though economic and ment, several of these homeless men and women housing disparities guide rural-urban movement, move back and forth from their home community the majority of homeless men and women in both several times, prompted by the high cost of living Yellowknife and Inuvik mentioned trauma and sub- in larger centres, as well as additional social and stance misuse as additional and significant obsta- economic barriers, combined with the high social cles. Alongside the social factors that underscore cost of relocation away from home (Gardner 1994). experiences of crises and addiction, the geography However, the same factors that motivated the initial of treatment options seems to further entrench the move away from home generally did not take long relationships between people in crisis, addiction, and to emerge again. homelessness. Though there is some formal mental Core housing need, and the related strains on health support available in small communities, ad- social relationships, was a frequent incentive for ru- dictions treatment services are very sparsely dis- ral-urban migration in this study. When no alterna- tributed across the territory. In total, there is only a tive accommodation is available at home, or when 28-day residential addiction treatment program in there is a strong desire to distance oneself from Hay River and a two-week detoxification program troubles with family and friends, the push towards offered in conjunction with the Salvation Army in regional centres, with a greater diversity in housing Yellowknife. The need for both an expanded mental options, is strong. However, the cost of housing in health program that addresses trauma, as well as ex-

54 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 panded addictions treatment services was repeatedly course construction in a Canadian Inuit community. mentioned in interviews with both support providers Arctic Anthropology 42(2): 50-65. and homeless men and women. Neither private nor De Verteuil, G. 2005. Welfare neighborhoods: anat- government housing stocks on their own currently omy of a concept. Journal of Poverty 9 (2): 23-41. accommodate the needs of homeless men and wom- Falvo, N. 2011. Homelessness in Yellowknife: an emerging social challenge. Ottawa, ON: Social Economy en, which include supports related not only to trau- Research Network of Northern Canada. ma and addiction, but to domestic violence, lack of Gardner, P. 1994. Aboriginal community incomes employable skills, and so on. All told, the housing and migration in the NWT: policy issues and alterna- spectrum for homeless single adults is tenuous and tives. Canadian Public Policy/Analyse De Politiques threadbare. The lack of adequate supportive hous- 20(3): 297-317. ing is a particularly glaring gap in this spectrum and Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). one that relates directly to the persistence of North- 2005. Homelessness in the NWT: Recommendations to ern homelessness. improve the GNWT response. Yellowknife: Government Any effective strategy aimed at alleviating of the Northwest Territories. Northern homelessness and building “pathways to ----. 2006. NWT Addictions Survey. Yellowknife: Government of the Northwest Territories, Health and prosperity” for all Northerners must be multi-faceted Social Services. http://www.hlthss.gov.nt.ca/pdf/re- and encompass housing need alongside economic, ports/mental_health_and_addictions/2006/english/ institutional, social, and health needs as well. Effec- nwt_addiction_survey.pdf tive policy strategies must also be rooted in a com- ----. 2010. 2009 NWT Community Survey: Housing prehensive understanding of the territorial geogra- Component. Yellowknife: Government of the Northwest phy of Northern homelessness: visible homelessness Territories, NWT Bureau of Statistics. in Yellowknife and Inuvik is, in many ways, closely IIC (Inuvik Interagency Committee). 2003. Home- tied to socioeconomic conditions in small, Northern lessness in Inuvik: Report to the Inuvik Homelessness settlements. Therefore, interventions need to be de- Committee. Unpublished report. Inuvik: Inuvik Inter- veloped that encompass both the rural and urban agency Committee. ITK (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami). 2004. Backgrounder sides of the Northern homelessness spectrum. ◉ on Inuit and Housing. In Housing Sectoral Meeting. Ottawa: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Julia Christensen is a Trudeau Scholar, SSHRC Postdoctoral Re- May, J. 2000. Housing histories and homeless ca- search Fellow in the Department of Geography at the University of reers: a biographical approach. Housing Studies 15 (4): British Columbia, and a Research Associate with the Institute for 613-638. Circumpolar Health Research in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. ----. 2009. Homelessness. In The International En- cyclopedia of Human Geography, eds. R. Kitchen and References N. Thrift. Oxford: Elsevier. Abele, F. 2006. Education, training, employment, Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC). 2004. Nun- and procure ment: submission to the Joint Panel avut ten-year Inuit housing action plan: a proposal to Review for the Mackenzie Gas Project. Prepared on the Government of Canada. Iqaluit: Nunavut Housing behalf of Alternatives North. http://www.alternatives- Corporation and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. North.ca/pdf/EmploymentTrainingEducationProcure- NWTHC (Northwest Territories Housing Corpora- ment.pdf tion). 2009. 2009/10 Annual Bone, R. 2003. The Geography of the Canadian Business Plan. Yellowknife: Northwest Territories North. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Housing Corporation. Christensen, J. 2009. ‘Everyone wants to have a Pleace, N. 2003. Single homelessness as social place’: homelessness, housing insecurity, and housing exclusion: the unique and the extreme. Social Policy and challenges for single homeless men in the Northwest Administration 32(1): 46-59. Territories, Canada. In Proceedings, 14th International Smith, N. 1994. Uneven development: nature, capi- Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, North- tal, and the production of space. Athens, GA: University west Territories. Yellowknife: Institute for Circumpolar of Georgia Press. Health Research. Webster, A. 2006. Homelessness in the Territorial ----. 2011. Homeless in a homeland: Housing (in) North: state and availability of the knowledge. Report security and homelessness in Inuvik and Yellowknife, prepared for the Housing and Homelessness branch, Northwest Territories. PhD Thesis, McGill University, Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Quebec. Ottawa: MaxSys Consulting. ----. 2012. “They want a different life”: rural North- YHC (Yellowknife Homeless Coalition). 2007. Plan- ern settlement dynamics and pathways to homelessness ning for Phase III of the Community Plan to Address in Yellowknife and Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The Homelessness in Yellowknife. Yellowknife: Yellowknife Canadian Geographer 56(4): 419-438. Homelessness Coalition. Collings, P. 2005. Housing policy, aging, and life Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 55 IN CONVERSATION Raising-up hunters & protectors once again: The Unaaq Men’s Association Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox & Tommy Palliser

naaq” is the word for harpoon in the In- says “are schooled to live in the south, but we live in uktitut dialect of the people of Inukjuak the North.” That realization prompted him to focus in“U Nunavik. A tool, that according to Tommy Pallis- on efforts to provide youth with the tools and confi- er, the group’s Treasurer “is crucial for men to have. dence necessary to live in the North and within their Without it you are stranded. You cannot survive.” own culture. Located on Hudson’s Bay, at the mouth of the Tommy recounts the origins of the Unaaq Men’s Inuuksuak River, the fly-in Inuit community of In- Association as a response to an event that was symp- ukjuak (Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᔪᐊᒃ) faces many of the same tomatic of much larger issues: hopelessness created challenges as communities across the North. The in part by low attainment in both formal schooling community, with a population of 1,597 today, has and cultural knowledge. “The school system,” Pal- a somewhat typical history for an Indigenous peo- liser notes, “creates a dependency where that system ple: it is the site of a former fur-trading post and is supposed to raise children. But the education they Anglican mission (in the 1950s it also became a get does not fully prepare them to go into employ- source of Inuit for Canada’s High Arctic Relocation ment or business. And most are also not fully able program). In more contemporary times, Inuuksuak to hunt or survive on the land.” The Men’s Asso- faces increasing demand for resource extraction on ciations answer to this problem focused on building their lands amid the backdrop of a colonial burden skills and knowledge intended to both require and that includes poverty and the consequences of resi- create wellness, organized around activities and dential school. Inukjuak residents are now struggling projects that would also foster individual and collec- with what seem to be the twin problems of cultural tive economic benefit. Since undertaking their task, retention and economic development. Often seen as the efforts and achievements of the Association have incompatible by outside governments and funding been transformative for the community. agencies that usually emphasize one or the other, a “We started out with a budget of about $5,000- group of men in the community have proven that 10,000 a year, now we have revenues of $600,000 theory wrong. The activities of the Unaaq Men’s As- - 800,000 per year. The association has created full sociation demonstrates that instead of being coun- time jobs, promotes the traditional economy, em- tervailing problems, economic and cultural strength ploys Elders, and provides the opportunity for young can actually be twin pillars of social and economic men in the community to become strong in their wellness. In response to a series of tragic suicides cultural knowledge so that they can become strong by young men in the community during 2001, the leaders.” women of Inukjuak put out a challenge to the men On any given day, men from the community who would eventually form the Association. They are employed to lead skill-building workshops that went on community radio and asked us: “what are are relevant and immediate for the men in their you going to do about this, how are you going to communities as well as their families. Elders teach help each other?” tool-making: from harpoons (unaaq) to crossbows Tommy Palliser grew up in Inukjuak and from (qukiuttaujaq), snow knives (panaq) to kayaks, as well early on knew that his choices were limited by the as the knowledge and acumen necessary to wield economic circumstances in that small community. these tools with confidence and precision of tech- By early adulthood, he also realized that his choic- nique necessary to propel the learner to achieving es were further limited by not having extensive land their goals. In another, more recent iteration of the skills. Enrolling in a two-year Heritage Training tool program, the Association has started to employ Program focusing on developing those skills on the men to produce wooden versions of the tools as toys land changed his life. Strengthening his cultural for children. knowledge and abilities, and experiencing a pro- A small engine repair shop hosts three full-time found personal transformation as a result, opened small engine mechanics, complemented by a recy- his eyes to the situation of other young men, who he cling centre whose manager will oversee the recy-

56 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 Photo credit: Tommy Palliser. Tommy Photo credit: cling and reclamation of engine parts and building based survival and success. These have included materials that would otherwise rot unused at the GPS-based navigation training to complement land- local dump. Another vital resource, especially for a based knowledge techniques; land and water based community depending extensively on hunting and hunting and fishing (seal, goose, fish) excursions fishing using skidoos, ATVs, is an outboard motor with adult and youth; First Aid training for remote repair service. While an ultimately unsustainable and wilderness contexts as well as the work place; service when provided under a for-profit model, the a soapstone collecting trip; kayak repair and tool Association deploys a combination of economic de- building. The list goes on. The pride and sense of velopment funding and low-profit margin to keep accomplishment the activities generate are felt in the the service afloat. In addition to providing mechanic wider community, as youth work closely with adult services, the enterprise also makes shop space and and Elder role models, and both men and women tools available for locals to work on their own equip- participate in skills development workshops, bene- ment. fitting from the services provided by the association. “We started out in a borrowed building. Now we According to Palliser, the other impacts of the have four buildings to work out of, and the space men’s association may not be as visible but are likely is available to local people to do their own build- being felt within the community. “A lot of the young ing and repair work. We have also built shelters for men we work with, after a couple of years there is a camps and places on the land. The Elders especially change in them. They are more confident in them- appreciate this. At places for example like the soap- selves. They have more skills than when they start- stone quarry, it allows them to stay out overnight, to ed, for example they have new opportunities open spend more time there together.” to them if they are trained in First Aid or as guides The economic benefit to the community is con- and can put that together with the land-based and siderable. “Inexpensive skidoo maintenance is so im- cultural knowledge they have gained.” portant to people who go out on the land” Palliser adds. The association focuses and builds on the types Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox: You seem passion- of activities and services that work with the skills and ate about this organization. What inspired interests of Inuit and which strengthen cultural and you to become involved and what keeps you land connections. focused? Building infrastructure supporting land-based activities at well-used locations near the community Tommy Palliser: I never desired working in the is one of the more visible impacts of the Associa- south. I knew I had the ability to excel in areas like tion’s activities. In 2011 alone, six emergency shel- business and looked at what jobs were available. I ter cabins were towed to regularly-used waypoints noticed that the one job in Inukjuak that might be and camping sites on hunting routes surrounding interesting was the Northern Store Manager posi- the community. And the association has held a series tion. The managers were always changing. I thought of ongoing skill development workshops that build a that maybe I could do that. In college I went into basic set of skills and knowledge essential for land- the social sciences at first but nothing interested me

Members of the Unaaq Men’s Association, Inukjuak, Nunavik, 2012. except business. esting for the next few years. We are also looking at I grew up without an Inuit father figure but had ways to start promoting kayaking again. Right now an adopted father since I was a child. Although I manufactured kayaks are out of reach for most Inu- had uncles and cousins who would spend time with it, but the kayak is an important tool for fishing. So me — and I am grateful to them for teaching me — we are looking into working on a program that will it was difficult to learn traditional skills, to get the revitalize kayaking in a way that supports people be- full education of how to live on the land, to have ing on the land. Such new developments also help to regular experience of that. My family went through keep the community involved and supportive. some tough times, and I was pretty young when I had to take on the role of provider. In 1994-95 I en- rolled in what was then called the Heritage Training What are the most significant economic and Program. It changed my life and was a dream come social impacts of the association? true to be connected with my cultural knowledge. The Elders were not easy on us. We would work at it The small engine repair shop has been in op- six days a week. We would have to build igloos, and eration for one year and that has had a big direct sleep in them. We went hunting for wolf, polar bear, impact in terms of getting hunters and trappers mo- and caribou. We had to live on our own on the land bile with skidoos, ATVs , and other small vehicles. If and that often meant struggle. It meant a lot to me the community didn’t have the shop, people would to be intact with cultural traditions. have to depend on people working in small shacks or outside, which is pretty tough in the cold conditions Have you been surprised by the Men’s Asso- of winter. The shop has created three full-time jobs ciation’s success? and one part-time job. We also have taken on people who have been given community hours through the I am fairly surprised by its success. There are no court system. These are mostly younger people, and other men’s associations of this kind in our region, in one case, we retained someone during the sum- Nunavut or the NWT. I’ve looked for other mod- mer months as a helper. This was a positive experi- els for associations that have these kinds of goals ence to have older men working with and mentoring and impacts in communities. We are breaking new younger men. So to provide this service is rewarding ground and creating a new kind of entity that focus- not only financially but to be appreciated by the peo- es on traditional activities but with a “modern” or- ple because you are repairing their vehicles. In our ganizational structure that is actually creating jobs. first year we have repaired over 400 vehicles and the But it depends directly on our hard work as board community is appreciative of that work. members and employees to make it work. Why is keeping your culture at the forefront Are there obstacles or disappointments? of progress essential?

There are. In the beginning we had high turn- For obvious reasons, I guess! There has been over rates with employees. It was hard to retain so much change in such a short time. There is talk people when we demand so much from them. We about Inuit losing culture and language and people are trying to promote a traditional structure of the worrying about that. The words used among the el- organization that is consistent with our culture, and ders, for example, are in a more sophisticated lan- the challenge is that we need people who have cer- guage: they use more technical words that are tied tain qualifications to do the work. So in the short directly to being on the land, knowing the land, and term it is moving from hiring people who are not are used a lot on the land (how the weather is, driving from the community in administrative roles toward dog teams, hunting). These kinds of technical words, hiring Inuit who have the skills to do that work. Over especially relating to some cultural practices such as the long term the challenge is to keep the commu- dog-teaming are not used so much anymore. We are nity involved. In the beginning we had challenges noticing that because the language is not used in this getting kids to wake up in the morning or finding way, its in danger of being lost. We want to make proper clothes for them to withstand the -40C tem- sure it survives. And the end result would be that peratures. Those are challenges we see over time are no matter what change we see in technology, there changing. Another challenge is to develop new proj- will still be a resource in our community to keep the ects and foster fresh ideas. For example we have a language, as well as the related activities, strong. If new focus on dog team training. That will be inter- we don’t have that knowledge, language and land

58 Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 connection, then we will just become Inuit living a that we have noticed working through our Associa- southern way. Fortunately we are not at that point tion when trying to provide land-based activities and yet. There are people my age who have dropped out lessons. So we have evening courses from 6:00pm to of school in grades 6 or 7 and they are living off the 9:00 or 10:00pm. We will have after school courses land. Some people would consider them failures for for dog sledding starting in January so we are try- dropping out but the knowledge those individuals ing to work around the strict schedule. But what I have is very valuable and will be more valuable as we would like to see is to have a four-day work-week or face changes on our lands and in the world around some arrangement that would help us be attached to us. It really depends on what values you have, and our culture. There is so much change being pushed our Men’s Association, and our survival as a people, on to us (the race for our resources under the Gov- depends on holding as very important the ability to ernment of Quebec’s Plan Nord a good example. live off the land as Inuit and know and practice and In those initiatives there is not much recognition in pass on that cultural and land based knowledge. It is terms of our need to live off the land. Our elders important for us to have these values alive and vital became experts out on the land because they have in our community to be able to move forward. spent most of their time on the land. In contrast, our youth are growing up in the community and barely What have you learned about yourself spending any time on the land. That is a big obstacle through this process and about your com- and creates the gap that we are trying to close. We munity? are slowly becoming leaders in our own capacity to question the way things are and to promote valuing This has taught me that it’s okay to make our cultural knowledge and how it is developed: by be- mistakes, and we must learn from them. That builds ing on the land. To our association this is the way our character and self-esteem as men, and is essen- to keep our Inuit values and culture strong in our tial to being a good community member and a good community. father. Fatherhood requires us to pass on our culture, traditions and values to our children. I have learned Where do you see the Association in the a lot from the elders who work with the Men’s Asso- next ten years? ciation. Just meeting with them and talking between our breaks has had a big influence on me. Seeing We have annual general meetings where we them gives me a strong sense of how I would like to sit together to talk about challenges and issues. We be as an Elder myself. They know so much in terms are always aware of the threat to our language and of cultural heritage and living off the land. They culture. As each year passes governments seem to also know their knowledge is valued by the whole come up with new plans to extract and use our lands community. This is in contrast to the schooling sys- and resources. That is where our men’s association tem that uses teachers from the south who teach our is leading the way in terms of developing our own youth knowledge that is valued in and useful in the association. We would like to see similar associations south. When you really look at our situation, valu- developed throughout the North and build a network ing of Elders has diminished in part because of the extending to other areas and other cultures. It would formal school systems that have been put in place. be really interesting to see the way other Indigenous We of course want the youth in our community peoples practice their cultures and share knowledge: to be able to function in the south, but we are still the Inuvialuit, the Dene. We believe this will develop very much a Northern people and community. To more camaraderie with different nations and bring balance that, the values and knowledge of the El- them together. With all the residential schools and ders should be taught first and foremost. Right now what has happened to us as Indigenous peoples in it seems like there are two conflicting values in our the past, and what continues into the present, so communities: there is school five days a week which much pain has been sustained among the Elders and leaves only one day to go out hunting and fishing within our nations. To unite them again through the (many cannot go on Sundays for religious reasons). men taking responsibility and organizing along the It is really hard to pass on the cultural knowl- lines of valuing their traditional cultures and roles in edge and values under these kinds of constraints their communities, that would build up our nations. where there is a strict structure, which applies both That would be something I can see in the next ten for work and for school. This is really something years as we keep pushing toward our goals.◉

Northern Public Affairs, Special Issue 2013 59 DELINE Photo credit: Morris Neyelle. Photo credit: Morris

Charlie Neyelle, Spiritual Leader of Deline. SPONSORS

The Northern Governance and Economy Conference was made possible by the generous support of these sponsors. IDLE NO MORE

Idle No More demonstration in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, December 21, 2012. Photograph by Amos Scott.