Thank you, Committee Chair Yasmin Ratansi, for including the voice of Canada's Inuit women in the Standing Committee on Status of Women deliberations today. We're pleased to be with you.
Your agenda discussing the economic security of Canada's women is dear to the hearts of Inuit women and their families and communities. It is timely and relevant to everyone in the north, and particularly to the people Pauktuutit represents, the Inuit women of Canada.
The message I wish to stress today, the message I want you to take away from this presentation, is that the success of Canada's businesses, environmental activities, and investments in the north rests upon the social and economic well-being of the inhabitants of Canada's northern communities. The full participation of Inuit women in the northern economy is crucial, and this participation both depends on and results in healthy and viable communities. Commitment to engagement of and with Inuit women in all business and policy strategies is the strongest possible assurance of success in Canada's north.
Pauktuutit is committed to and engaged in Inuit women's economic development on several fronts. This afternoon I'll touch on traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights and our work to improve Inuit women's economic self-sufficiency, two initiatives that demonstrate the link between social cohesion and economic success in Canada's north.
First, though, in case this is your first introduction to Pauktuutit, let me tell you a little bit about our work. Inuit women are the vessels of culture, health, language, traditions, teaching, caregiving, and child rearing, factors of the basis of the Inuit culture. As such, Inuit women play an integral role in the economic life of northern communities and society.
Pauktuutit is the national voice for Inuit women in Canada, guided by a highly motivated board of directors of Inuit women elected from 10 clusters of communities across Canada's Arctic, as well as youth and urban representatives. Pauktuutit fosters awareness of Inuit women, works for equity and social improvements, and encourages their participation in the national life of Canada.
Pauktuutit leads and supports Canadian Inuit women in policy development in community projects in all areas of interest to them. Our mandate...you'll see more of that in this document, too, but I'm going to go fast because I'm told I'm going to be cut off at 10 minutes.
What have social conditions to do with economic success? Well, everything. Here's one example. For over 20 years Pauktuutit has been a leader in breaking the silence on the difficult topics of family violence and child sexual abuse in Inuit communities. There's a slide in this presentation from a recent report by Statistics Canada showing some disturbing figures.
In Nunavut, women are 10 times more likely to need to go to a shelter as a result of abuse than women anywhere else in Canada. Sexual offences are equally high, and domestic violence is at least twice the rate in Nunavut than elsewhere. It dramatically illustrates the extent of the violence a lot of Inuit women face today.
Violence contributes to the high rates of homelessness in Inuit communities. There are few safe shelters and little in the way of alternate housing. Inuit women who flee violence must often depend upon relatives and friends for short-term shelter. As such, homelessness is largely hidden in the north. It is found in the severely overcrowded homes where couch surfers sleep in shifts.
A substantial proportion of Inuit households contain more than one family. Although we do not have reliable current estimates on the number of homeless in the north, we do know that a large proportion of these are women and children. We urgently need more homeless shelters and more and better supported Inuit community social workers and mental health workers.
This overcrowding is a major problem in the north. We are often told that commitments and investments to build new and affordable homes will keep pace with growth, but the Inuit population is young and growing rapidly, and this is putting increasing pressure on the current stock of houses.
In 2001--that's almost eight years ago--close to 70% of houses in northern Quebec and about 55% of houses in Nunavut were considered extremely overcrowded. About one-quarter of all Inuit are living in dwellings that are in need of major repair as well.
With regard to education, income, and employment, we have both discouraging and encouraging numbers. For example, the 2001 census showed that almost 58% of adult Inuit had not completed high school compared with 31% of all adult Canadians. Currently, it's estimated that for every 100 students entering kindergarten in Nunavut, only 25 will graduate from grade 12.
I could go on and on. Unemployment rates are high, and the cost of living can be unbearable. For example, in Nunavik, the Inuit region in northern Quebec, food and basic retail items can cost between 44% and 100% more than in Montreal. This last winter in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, one litre of orange juice sold for $22, and Ocean Spray cranberry cocktail was selling for $42.
Quality food can be very expensive. Junk food is cheaper because it is often lighter and less expensive to ship. The shelf life for manufactured processed food is longer. In one small community in the western Arctic, food prices have been calculated to be 470% higher than in Ottawa.
Costs like these contribute to a poor diet, which in turn contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and tooth decay. Inuit women and children often bear the brunt of the impact of poverty and the concomitant health and social problems that occur. Pauktuutit firmly believes that encouraging Inuit women to become self-employed will improve not only their lives but the lives of their families and communities as well.
Where and how can economic development contribute? How can government and business provide leadership that can truly improve the social fabric and therefore the economic stability so important to their business interests in the north?
Inuit women have the ideas, creativity, commitment, and tenacity to succeed in business for themselves. What they may lack are business skills, technical information, and marketing contacts. Networking, mentoring, business partners, and access to funding opportunities would help in all these areas.
Intellectual property rights are a potential barrier to the economic self-sufficiency of Inuit women. In the fall of 1999, these concerns became pressing when the New York City fashion designer, Donna Karan, sent a buyer to the western Arctic to collect older, traditional Inuit clothing for inspection for her new fashion line. Pauktuutit was concerned that the amauti.... Do people know what an amauti is? It's a parka you pull on over your head with a great big hood in the back for your baby. You see Inuit women with their very special amauti. All the women across the north make them their own way, so when you see an Inuit woman wearing an amauti, you can tell where she's from, and it's a treasured garment. Come over to our office on Sparks Street and we'll show you some.
Pauktuutit was concerned that the amauti was destined to be another element of Inuit cultural heritage to be misappropriated. Without legal protection, the small-scale economic activities of Inuit seamstresses in remote communities would be undermined by mass production in the south. The amauti could go the way of the kayak, the parka, and the kamik.
Protecting the intellectual property of indigenous peoples is problematic. The current legal regimes are geared for commercial or economic rights over privately owned economic property. So if you own something, you can protect it, but if your community owns something, it's almost impossible.
Pauktuutit is keenly aware of the challenges of starting a business in remote Arctic communities, particularly for Inuit women. High costs of transportation, small markets, and high business operating costs all have an impact on northern business. Inuit women face additional challenges, because many of the programs and services available do not reflect our needs and priorities.
In partnership with INAC, Pauktuutit has developed a handbook and a three-day workshop that helps walk Inuit women through the business planning process. I would go on and on and tell you a little bit more about that, but I want to skip to the key thing.
The huge economic potential of the north can only be realized in the context of the social and economic strengths of the Inuit inhabitants. From resource extraction to mega-development pipeline construction projects, the success of northern industrial development will be judged by how it contributes to the social and economic well-being of the Inuit communities in its path.
Together, I know we can be creative and seek novel solutions to the issues I've outlined here today.
For small entrepreneurs in isolated communities, practical access to banking services and financial credit can be a barrier. Microcredit is a tool particularly well suited to tiny, one-person enterprises, especially those initiated by women. We're seeing that all across the world right now. The only place it isn't is in Canada. It is gaining attention worldwide and is worthy of assessment in a northern context. Cooperative banking is another alternative to be explored.
I'm so glad to see someone from Justice here today too. Intellectual property rights beg a solution. As I mentioned earlier, for Pauktuutit, this is an important matter. But all our work on this issue is pro bono at the moment. We lack the resources to pursue it to the degree that is warranted at the national and international levels. We have consulted on its status at WIPO, which is the World Intellectual Property Organization, which meets in Geneva three times a year and invites us all the time, but we either can't go or they send us a ticket at the last minute and we can't go prepared. It's ridiculous.
To date, with two or three notable exceptions, support for our work has come on a project-by-project basis from several Government of Canada departments. We applaud these funders and thank them. However, the urgency of the crises facing Inuit in remote northern communities cannot and will not be solved by relying solely on these partnerships. Support must extend beyond government sources. It is time for the private sector to step up as well.
Inuit women are the primary agents of change in Canada's north. Pauktuutit is engaged in a wide range of vital activities and projects that focus on community well-being. Pauktuutit plays an important role in knowledge translation, transforming technical, clinical, and scientific knowledge into information that can be acted upon at the community level.
Pauktuutit, however, is a small organization with limited capacity. Amazing achievements have been accomplished on remarkably small budgets, yet all too often we must turn down opportunities because we lack core capacity to support the initiative.
Given the many challenges that need to be overcome, it is vital that Canada's national government and private industry become much more involved in the health and well-being of Inuit communities.
As I close, I would like to offer Pauktuutit as a partner for government and business and remind us all that private sector interests are best served by ensuring social and economic stability in local communities.
Pauktuutit has 23 years in direct, democratic community representation and courageous engagement in sensitive issues. Pauktuutit has well-established relationships with key representatives of governments, agencies, academics, community leaders, and the private sector.
I could just go on and on talking about Pauktuutit, so I will just say qujannamiik.
Thank you.
