Indigenous Group: Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA)

Business: N/A

Issue: Feb. 28. 2018: QIA – As the Designated Inuit Organization representing the five High Arctic communities that border these waters, QIA expects to have a seat at the table when new decisions are made on allocation of conservation related funds. QIA has engaged with Parks Canada via a Whole of Government approach in a negotiation process.

Comment: The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) is a not-for-profit society which represents approximately 14,000 Inuit in the Qikiqtani (Baffin) Region of Nunavut, including 13 communities from Grise Fiord in the High Arctic to Sanikiluaq (Belcher Islands) in the southeast of Hudson Bay. QIA’s mission is to safeguard, administer and advance the rights and benefits of the Qikiqtani Inuit; and to promote Inuktitut and Inuit traditions, environmental values, self-sufficiency, and economic, social and cultural well-being in an open and democratic forum. Under Article 39 of the Nunavut Agreement, QIA is considered a Designated Inuit Organization (DIO) responsible for managing Inuit Owned Lands in the Qikiqtani Region.

In August 2017, in a letter to QIA, Prime Minister Trudeau affirmed that a “whole government approach” would be taken in the establishment of Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Are (NMCA), meaning that agreements with Inuit would not be isolated to a single government department, but would include participation from all relevant government departments.

Last Update: August 1, 2019 – The federal government and Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) – today announced an historic agreement that finalizes a joint governance model for the long-sought Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area which will protect more than 109,000 square kilometres of biologically rich Arctic waters. The accord, called an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement, is a major step toward completion of Canada’s largest national marine conservation area at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage, and represents decades of work by Inuit to safeguard a culturally significant region crucial to their subsistence way of life. Large populations of narwhal, bowhead whales, beluga and other marine mammals migrate through these icy waters each year.

An Inuit advisory board will be established to oversee Tallurutiup Imanga. Ottawa will also invest $190 million in the broader region to support new infrastructure, like small craft harbours, and employment opportunities, including an Inuit stewardship program, for the five Nunavut communities bordering the national marine park.