Geoscience Reference
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of self-government cover a range of topics but typically include control over
issues of culture, language and heritage as well as child and family services,
social services, early childhood development, education, training, health,
income support, marriage, justice and policing, financial planning, housing
and economic development. More specifically, for the Inuvialuit, self-gov-
ernment means gaining more direct control over programmes and services;
being able to protect the Inuvialuit language and culture; establishing
new relationships between the people and their governments; and building
stronger communities in the region. Certainly a key feature of self-govern-
ment involves the Inuvialuit deciding upon the structure and form that their
government will take. It also includes outlining its jurisdictional or govern-
ing responsibilities to its citizens, determining the scope of its governance
and establishing new standards for service delivery. Given the potential for
greater Inuvialuit control, self-government will increase representation and
participation of Inuvialuit beneficiaries who live outside the region as well.
Despite the potential transformation self-government might provide, there
is significant apprehension surrounding it. For some, it is a matter of levels
of jurisdiction and the uncertainty as to who will do what. As one Inuvialuit
member explained in an interview on 2 October 2007,
[self-government] is going to be a really touchy issue because there's
already talk about, OK, what's going to happen to the Inuvialuit Regional
Corporation? And what's going to happen to the Hamlet. In other words,
there is a lot of uncertainty as to how institutions will be organized and
how they will serve people. Will they be better off? Or, will they lose
out in the end? Yet at the same time the potential ability to improve
programmes like education in communities is very appealing.
The same member went on to say:
Know if we had like self-government we oversee it and say 'OK, this is
where we are lacking'. And we'd have a say in that and make sure it was
changed. Right now for lack of words, you bitch and complain, but the
government doesn't listen.
The member even went so far as to articulate a vision for education: 'I always
say that maybe from K to Grade 3 its all day everyday in our language.'
Despite concerns that have been raised, it appears that the vision for a better
future fuels the desire to negotiate because, in the end, self-government cou-
pled with land claims means Aboriginal groups can do more, moving beyond
economics, profit and jobs to programming and social well-being.
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