Mr. Speaker, residents of Nunavut Territory celebrate their tenth anniversary this month, but they are also saddened that Helen Maksagak, the first Commissioner of Nunavut, passed away last Friday at the age of 77.
This remarkable Inuk woman served the public by working for the RCMP, a transient centre, as Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the N.W.T. Roundtable on the Environment., director of the regional drug and alcohol board and the Canada Committee of the International Year of the Family.
Legislation and policy during her commissioner tenure focused on the creation of Nunavut, the fulfillment of the requirements of the Nunavut land claims agreement, self-reliance at the individual and territorial level and the adoption of a single time zone.
In recognition of her public service, in 2003 she was named to the Order of Canada. Governor General Adrienne Clarkson remarked that Helen Maksagak had given an enormous amount and had indeed made an imprint on the history of the country.
We offer our sympathy to the Maksagak family and thank them for sharing their mother with the north in such important work and accomplishments.