Evidence of meeting #107 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was inuit.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Frank Baylis Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
Charlie, you said you speak a different language. Which language do you speak, your own language?
President, Makivik Corporation
I speak the same language as the people in the Arctic, Inuktitut.
Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
I would like to understand something within the context of your world, not our world. You come here, you speak in English, you're wearing a tie and you're talking about something that we care a lot about, which is sovereignty. We care because we want control, we want resources, and so on.
If you were back home and speaking in your own language, how would you be speaking about this whole issue? Would it even be a discussion point, as nomadic people? What would be going on?
President, Makivik Corporation
Then I'll say it in one way: You want it again.
President, Makivik Corporation
It's as in, “You want to take it”. What we're saying is that the southern people, people from other parts of the world, want to extract the resources from under our feet. It cannot happen just like that. That's what we're trying to say. If there are transactions between the two, we have to be part of it.
Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
Among yourselves you wouldn't be arguing about who owns the land, would you?
President, Makivik Corporation
We know we own the land. We were there before anybody else. How does the ownership begin? Think about that.
Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.
You wouldn't be having a discussion like “This piece is mine, you can't come here.” Would that be part of this?
President, Makivik Corporation
If the Arctic is being treated as a country that has symbolic state recognition, we would be operating very differently with the Canadian government and with the other countries, but the fact is that we're not recognized as a state. That's why we can't participate, even though they're doing whatever they can to try to extract certain things under our feet.
This is not a little issue. This affects people's lives, their social life and mental life, their economy, their education, and the well-being of Inuit. Those are important to us. It might not be important to the people from the south, because they don't live with us on a daily basis. I can understand that, but what the government will have to recognize is not the question of rights, rights as existing in the Arctic, because the rights are already there and already recognized. They have a constitutional label on it.
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Thank you.
Ask a very short question, please, MP Aboultaif.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Thank you.
We know one of the biggest problems out there in the Arctic area is our very small population compared to other claimants of the area from other nations. That is a fundamental problem. How do you get the sovereignty you're looking for, extract the resources we need, and have an overall plan for the next 100 years? How do you go about that with a very small population?
President, Makivik Corporation
The fact that we have a very small population is one of the reasons we're counting on our Canadian government to make sure they stick with us and be partners. We're not looking at it any other way. If you kick us out of the country, then maybe we have to think of something else, but today we're part of you. We're no different from you. We pay taxes just like you. We might have a certain set of rights as an ethnic component, but that's a reality.
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Thank you very much to you both. Again, you've given us lots to think about and probably a good amount to follow up on as well.
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Senator and Ms. Campbell, thank you for being here.
We're going to take 30 seconds. We'll suspend, and then we're going in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]