That's right; I saw a mention in the press that she was suggesting that there be some kind of forum where Inuit and the federal government could together manage the Arctic waters of Canada.
I think this is probably another way of talking about a marine council--that is, set up an authority or a forum or a place where southern Canadians, to put it more broadly, and northerners could get together and put their imaginations together, closely, but up north.
Again, I always think the local is important. The people who really know and live and have long experience with the north would be at the table talking. In this case, Inuit, who have land claims rights, would be at the table helping to shape a long-term Canadian policy on our own Arctic waters, which should lead to a larger view of where the Arctic region might go, what would suit us, what our vision for the future would be.
I think implicit in the land claims agreement for Nunavut is this marine council, which should be acted upon, in my view. Whether it's the exact provision in the land claim agreement, I'm not sure, because if you start to look at it, that's a fairly complex and Nunavut-specific body. We would need something rather more expansive and larger that would allow for the Inuvialuit in the western Arctic to be part of the picture, for instance. That means the GNWT has to be part of it, as well as Nunavut.
To me, there's a really interesting challenge there. I'm not sure who should take this up; maybe it's Mr. Strahl, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, who should be doing this. But the time has come, I believe, for us to put our heads together, to put our imaginations together, to create an institution, a place, where these ideas can be shared. Again, we would come out of what I regard as a southern absorption with our own southern identity.
Maybe I'm being too critical here, but we tend down south to look at the north in terms of our own southern identity, as the “true north strong and free” and so on. Rather than looking at the north as it is, we think of the north as it's part of us as we'd like to be. There's a certain escape from reality here when you get into identity and identity politics. I think if we moved north it would be a big plus.
Thank you.