Opening Remarks: Inuit Circumpolar Council 11th General Assembly

Good afternoon.

First of all I want to thank Greenland for hosting us here. It has been 30 years since we started this organization, although we had our first meeting in Barrow, Alaska in 1977.

I had the privilege of being one of the negotiators for the ICC Charter. And I came to Greenland many times since then. And I always enjoying coming to Greenland.

I was thinking today. If the ICC General Assembly still had elders meetings, I would probably be at the elders meeting instead!

So I am pleased to be among so many friends. And I also appreciate the many kind words of welcome I have received since I arrived here.

These assemblies of the Inuit Circumpolar Council that take place every four years are very special events. It is our opportunity to shine a spotlight on the most pressing issues facing our circumpolar communities.

The ICC event also serves as a reminder to Inuit....and to those who follow our politics... that our circumpolar origins are quite unique in this world.... our bonds have always reached across enormous distances and changing jurisdictional boundaries as has been mentioned today by various peoples, but we have always been united.

We not only benefit from moving the discussion forward on the difficult issues we are facing... but we have a responsibility to use our common interests to do so. These gatherings are also very enriching for our culture and language.

These meetings demonstrate that of the many complex international issues we discuss.... most issues... in the end... are basic human issues affecting the well-being of our families.

The thread that weaves us together is ICC.

And when I think back over the last 30 years, it’s like a flash in my life, and I am sure many of you feel the same way. I have always firmly believed in the ICC, because while we are looking after our daily lives, the ICC provides us with an opportunity to talk about our vision.

Since we last met ICC has been at the forefront of issues essential to our well-being.

• On Inuit rights, ICC played a pivotal role leading the development and adaptation by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• On sovereignty, ICC authored A Circumpolar Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic, wherein they reminded the states of the world that the concept of sovereignty must be situated within international law and politics, and sovereignty must be balanced against the rights of Inuit to self-determination.

Inuit need the circumpolar voice of ICC to ensure that as doors open on issues affecting the Arctic, the Inuit perspective is represented... that our commitment to a sustainable development of the Arctic is articulated... and that our knowledge of our land and people is recognized and valued in decisions.

So on behalf of Canadian Inuit, let me offer my thanks and deep appreciation to the hard working people at ICC for their tireless work these past four years.

For the Inuit of Inuit Nunangat --- the four regions that make up the Inuit homeland in Canada --- the last few years have witnessed some hopeful policy shifts by our Federal government.

For instance, in June 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on the floor of the House of Commons, offered an Apology to Aboriginal Canadians victimized at residential schools.

As many of you know, Canadian Inuit were part of a long, unbroken period of Aboriginal education policy in Canada founded on a vision to ‘assimilate’ Aboriginal people.

Today we have come to understand what the word ‘assimilation’ means, but at the time, all our parents and grandparents knew was that their children were being removed from their homes and communities to attend school.

Inuit children became part of a Canada-wide government effort to ‘re-socialize’ aboriginal children through school education. This would involve a relentless attack on our language and our culture.

In his Apology, we heard the Prime Minister say these words ... ‘’today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.’’ (end of quote)

So, the Apology was a significant event for all Canadians, and a long- overdue moment in the healing process for many former students of residential schools and their families.

In 2010, we witnessed another potential shift in policy by the Government of Canada, in the Speech from the Throne inaugurating a new session of Canadian Parliament. The Government of Canada signalled a commitment to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

So we anxiously await a formal statement from the Government supporting the Declaration without any preconditions.

Both the Prime Minister’s Apology on Residential Schools, and the stated commitment to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is an indication that issues of profound importance to us are making it to the agenda of our Federal Government.

We have also received support from the Government of Canada, and our Governor General of Canada on defending our right to harvest wildlife as a livelihood. As you may know Inuit of Canada and Greenland are challenging the EU in court on the European ban on Canadian seal products.

And the Government of Canada was instrumental in ensuring that Inuit culture along with other Aboriginal cultures in Canada, were prominently showcased at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

We have also witnessed in the last three years an unprecedented level of attention given to the Arctic by the Canadian Government.

• The Prime Minister has made a point of visiting the Arctic regularly and had made plans to return this summer.
• For the first time, an Inuk has been appointed a Minister in the federal Cabinet....to the very important portfolio of Health.
• A new northern economic development agenda has been established and headquartered in Iqaluit, and
• With the signing of the Nunavik Offshore Agreement, there is now a complete chain of constitutionally protected Inuit land claims agreements---modern treaties---stretching from the Alaska border to the middle of Nunatsiavut, or more commonly known as Labrador.

Our settled land claims govern how development in Inuit Nunangat will take place and guarantees a strong, if not exclusive, role for Inuit in the environmental assessment of development proposals.

This is not to say that the land claims agreements, once in place solve all problems. The agreements must be interpreted and put into practice and like all agreements there are challenges on the implementation side.

We are working on these challenges through a number of routes and it is my hope that the Government of Canada will one day be recognized in Canada...and around the world...for a progressive implementation of these modern treaties.

So on balance, since our last ICC meeting, there have been some hopeful developments for Canadian Inuit.

The question this raises is... what’s next?

I believe there is now a sense that we must direct our attention...and our expertise...to addressing perhaps our greatest challenge...the need to improve the well-being of our families.

It is very troubling to consider that Canadian Inuit live in one of the most prosperous countries in the world, yet the socio-economic conditions for Inuit approximate many countries in the developing world.

• 75% of our children are not completing high school!
• Our suicide rate, mostly among our young people – is 11 times the Canadian average...and,
• Mental health issues plague our communities.
• Many of our communities lack the most basic mental health and support services.
• Our incidence of Tuberculosis is such that, if we were not citizens of Canada, we would not be allowed entry into our own country.
• Many of our Inuit communities suffer from alcohol and drug abuse.
• Mortality rates for Inuit children are still unacceptably high.

My friends... the time has come for Inuit – across our circumpolar nation – to join forces in improving our health and well-being.

We have survived for generations by sharing our knowledge...our expertise... and our technologies.

We have survived because the leaders who came before us continually looked out across our land, and looked at our communities, assessed the conditions... and concluded that change in course was necessary.

The duty now falls on us.

Our purpose as leaders is to ensure that our children are healthier... better educated... and more equipped to face 21st century challenges... than our own generation.
And we must use the tools of our generation to realise these goals.

The strength of the Inuit Circumpolar Council has always been that our collective attention to issues facing Inuit... our collaboration on solutions... is stronger than if we work in isolation.

I believe that ICC can play two important roles in this new era of improving socio-economic conditions.

• First, ICC can be our international advocate for change. Before the end of this Assembly I will be inviting ICC to support a resolution... a resolution that raises to the forefront the need for concerted action by governments and Inuit to improve health and education outcomes in our communities.
• Secondly, ICC can be a strong voice in facilitating research that is directed at improving our health and education indicators. ICC can foster forums to share our best practices, our promising practices, in the field of Inuit health and education – so that we can build on these successes. On that note, I want to commend the work of the Canadian National Committee on Inuit Education in coming to grips with the need to develop a national strategy on improving the Inuit education for our children in Canada.

We must actively facilitate the transfer of knowledge across the circumpolar north by building on our knowledge networks for health and education, ICC can facilitate the development of these networks.

We need this shared body of information to bring attention to the critical health and education issues, and to equip our governments with the knowledge to promote a change in conditions.

I know there are no easy solutions to improving our health and education outcomes. We know that turning around some of the most desperate indicators is a daunting task.

But we also know that inaction is not an option.

Inuit have proven to the world... to our governments... to ourselves that we can speak, and act, as a united voice... I am calling on delegates today to use the power of that united voice. I am calling on the delegates here today to embark on a new era for circumpolar Inuit – an era dedicated to ensuring that our children enjoy better health and better education than any generation before us.

Friends, by the time the next ICC general assembly comes around, my term as President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami will have concluded.

As President of ITK I have always used events such as these ICC meetings as a marker to evaluate our progress on the most pressing issues of the day.

It is my hope that the 2014 Assembly looks back at 2010... at this week’s event... as the beginning of a renewed emphasis and effort towards positive social change for Inuit... when we harnessed our expertise at negotiating, and developing solutions, and using our collective voice... to improve social conditions for our children.

I believe it is our responsibility to use our skills in politics, our knowledge of technology and public policy as our tools of action to move our governments beyond their stated good intentions, into a new era – that will look at the health and education of Inuit as a measure of our entire country’s well being.

Inuit have never accepted the status quo as anything other than the starting point for change.

Let the 2010 ICC General Assembly be that point in time for a new era in social change for Inuit.

Nakurmiimarialuk.