Inuit Want A Seat At The Table

Next month in Chelsea, Quebec, the Canadian government plans to host a meeting with the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway. Arctic sovereignty, economic development, and environmental protection, are at the top of the agenda. However the people who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years, and who will be the most affected by the potential outcomes of this meeting, have not been invited to sit at the table. Quite frankly, we find it absolutely inconceivable that the Canadian government would contemplate such a thing. Inuit have a long history of working with whatever government is in power on a very wide range of both national and international issues. We should put that experience to work, and we see no reason why we have been excluded from this discussion. Our position is, and always has been, that Inuit are not content to be passive bystanders while the fate of our homeland, our people, and our culture, is discussed and planned for by others.

Inuit have developed a Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty – collectively – which sets out our position on this issue in light of the settling of comprehensive land claim agreements in Canada, the establishment of Territorial and regional governments run by Inuit, and governments lead by Inuit elsewhere. We have stated many times in the past that a specific and direct relationship with Inuit must be at the core of any Arctic discussions. Anything less than full Inuit participation is, at best, a flawed process. There has been some discussion and speculation of late that Prime Minister Harper is interested in being remembered as the Prime Minister who paid attention to the Arctic, and who worked towards helping to address the many issues that have languished under former governments. If this is the case the “Chelsea Model” is not the best way to go about it. Inuit have attended many “consultation meetings” ahead of the actual meeting many times before. It’s 2010. “Consultation meeting” time is over. It’s time Inuit were at the table.

Technorati Tags: Arctic Sovereignty Inuit Arctic Summit