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.
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Okay, but keep it to a maximum of three minutes, please.
Associate, Hutchins Legal Inc.
Absolutely.
I'm going to come behind Senator Watt really quickly to re-emphasize the point that Canada's sovereignty does depend on Inuit. Inuit had effective occupation of the Arctic long before there was ever a Canada, or any of the Arctic states, and Canada needs this relationship with Inuit to be able to ground its sovereignty in land and ultimately in water.
That's done through the treaties. It is incredibly important to respect the treaties and the fact that the treaties create partnerships with Inuit. That partnership is a developing partnership. The treaties are not something that happened and are over; they create a whole range of management and ways to govern the Canadian north, and they require an updating.
One of the things that Senator Watt, now president of the Makivik Corporation, is looking at is updating the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement to make sure that Inuit can properly govern and are able to go back to the way they used to govern in the north. This is a priority, and it's a priority across the north.
In addition, you're looking at the continental shelf and extending Canada's sovereignty to the north. Recognizing that there is this partnership and that the partnership has benefited Canada by allowing it to have this sovereignty into the Arctic Ocean, that sovereignty depends on our sovereignty over the land, and that sovereignty over the land depends on Inuit. That partnership needs to be able to extend into the waters of the Arctic and to extend to ocean governance internationally.
I want to emphasize that this has been a frustration for Inuit, because the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, does not recognize indigenous peoples' rights. That is a major concern. As Canada starts to look at its sovereignty in the Arctic over the extended continental shelf—and it will be making its submission to the UNCLOS commission that looks at those things in early 2019—it hasn't, to Makivik's view, properly consulted with Inuit or recognized Inuit rights or that Inuit are in a partnership. Makivik is looking for that type of partnership with Canada, and looking for even that recognition in the submission that's going to be made in 2019.
Further, that partnership should involve working with Inuit to look at protections for those deep seabed areas, for the oceans that will be affected, and also looking to partner to ensure that if there are benefits coming from the exploration and exploitation of those areas that Inuit benefit from that as well.
I do want to quickly point out—
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
It's going to have to be in 30 seconds or less, if that's okay. I want to leave time for all members to get their questions in.
Associate, Hutchins Legal Inc.
There are two quick recommendations that we have, then.
There is a new agreement coming up that is being negotiated. It has just started to be negotiated at the UN. It will affect all the high seas in the world, and it will, of course, affect the Arctic Ocean. Canada is involved in this—it's at the UN this September—and we're looking for Inuit rights in the Arctic to be recognized in this agreement, which would have a major impact on the UNCLOS system. It would perhaps amend some of the wrongs of the UNCLOS system for not having recognized those rights previously by including them now.
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Thank you very much to you both.
We'll move right into questions, with MP Alleslev, please.
Leona Alleslev Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, CPC
Thank you very much.
My goodness, that was incredibly comprehensive. There are so many things.
I want to be able to put it in perspective, to make sure that I have the big picture. The big picture is that what was in the Arctic is not what it is today because of some significant changes, not the least of which is climate change, and also because of a whole bunch of people interested in some really cool natural resources, such as minerals and other things. They are now more of an economic driver, so we have to keep our focus going that way.
The second thing that I heard you say is that we need to focus on our international policies and figure out what they are going to look like. How are we going to regulate people who want to come and do stuff? How are we going to distribute that economic...?
The third thing is that we have a bunch of relationships that we have to change with the Inuit to support whatever that foreign policy is. I think I also heard you say that we have to do that at the same time, because what we're negotiating externally has to be almost what we're negotiating internally, to make sure we've....
Whoa. How do we do that? What are the three key framework themes that we have to focus on to be able to unpack this really complicated but incredibly important topic?
President, Makivik Corporation
How do we do it? Well, we've been wrestling with that for quite some time. I was sort of hoping at the beginning that we were going to get a response from the government right away, but that did not happen.
Knowing the facts, there is a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of adjustment, a lot of amendments, a lot of revisiting of certain things, and so on.
Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, CPC
Just help me out with the first thing, the top three. We're going to make a recommendation. What do we have to do first?
President, Makivik Corporation
I think what we need to do is take those recommendations. At the same time, recommendations alone are not good enough unless we have the machinery in place. What is missing is the machinery. What I call a missing link in the whole process is to establish a place, a mechanism, whereby we can have discussion and dialogue on certain issues. Maybe at times we might want to turn it into a negotiation later on, after the discussion. That's what's missing.
Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, CPC
Perfect.
I'd like to turn it over to my colleague.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Thank you both. I only have a couple of minutes left.
I believe firmly that the duty to consult means both prior to development and, once a development is under way, substantially changing that or changing rights over a certain jurisdiction.
In 2016, the Prime Minister, in conjunction with President Obama, put a ban on Arctic development for 17% of the Arctic land mass and 10% of the waters. The Premier of the Northwest Territories was disappointed because there was no consultation whatsoever.
To your knowledge, Senator, was there any consultation with Inuit communities? I believe you're right; they are the backbone of our sovereignty.
President, Makivik Corporation
There have never been clear consultations. As a matter of fact, when the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada made that decision, we were not too happy. Without even coming to us, they just turned around and said, “This is what's going to happen.”
President, Makivik Corporation
A lot of Inuit people didn't know. They were very surprised.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Ms. Campbell, would that breach the duty of consultation required, in your view as an aboriginal lawyer?
Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.)
Okay.
We're now going to move to MP Vandenbeld, please.
Liberal
Anita Vandenbeld Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
Actually, Ms. Campbell, when you were winding up your remarks, it sounded as though you had another recommendation that you wanted to add. Did you want to take the first moments and finish your remarks?
Associate, Hutchins Legal Inc.
I would just point out that ICC Canada is not here, and we hope that you will meet with ICC. We wanted to take the opportunity as well to point out that it has a huge mandate. It has the voice of Inuit internationally on so many different issues, at so many different fora. It was instrumental in creating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and it sat on the Canadian delegation for the recent central Arctic fisheries agreement. Actually, it is a landmark in itself that ICC was on the Canadian delegation, and we see that as something that is a best practice, for sure, and something that should be expanded. It is also underfunded, so we want to point out that it really deserves much more funding to play the valuable role that it does.
Liberal
Anita Vandenbeld Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
Senator Watt, you referenced quite a bit of history, some of that history obviously being very painful. You referenced—
President, Makivik Corporation
I'm having a hard time. I didn't put my earpiece on, so....
Liberal
Anita Vandenbeld Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
Okay, I'll talk a little bit louder for you.
You talked about history and some of the painful history, like the forced removals and the slaughtering of the dogs. You also talked about rights, both domestic and international. With the Inuit being the backbone of our sovereignty in the north, to what extent are reconciliation and sovereignty intertwined? To what extent are those two interdependent, and what would that kind of reconciliation in the north look like?