Women’s participation in decision making - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 221

'community' and 'Inuit'. In Nunavut, political consultation is a legal require-
ment and a strategy utilized within the political process to secure some level
of accountability. The current process of political consultation is straight-
forward. Political institutions decide what issues will be discussed, which
communities will be visited and when, and what decisions will be made from
these discussions . 20 Political consultation is a strategy for political institu-
tions to record and acquire a community perspective, thereby creating an
imagined community history within its political structure and identity.
The practice of consultation has a short but poignant history in Nunavut.
R. Quinn Duffy introduced me to this history in describing a meeting held in
Ottawa in May 1952. The meeting, which focused on the strategies to bridge
the continual presence of the Canadian Federal Government in the North
while protecting the well-being of Inuit, brought together representatives of
federal departments conducting business in the North. There were no Inuit at
this meeting. The justification for this absence was:
'The only reason why Eskimos were not invited to the meeting,' the
director explained, 'was, apart from the difficulties of transportation and
language, that it was felt that few, if any, of them have yet reached the
stage where they could take a responsible part in such discussions.'
(Duffy 1988:198)
Duffy goes on to argue: 'Thus the government recognized the difficulty of
involving local Inuit in planning policy at levels higher than the community
… So it was left to those southern Canadians to settle the future of the people
of the north' (Duffy 1988:199).
Inuit in Nunavut have consistently been aware of this 'well-intended'
invisibility, and have successfully rallied against it as a means to provide Inuit
with some access to political authority. Prior to 1999, Nunavut was the east-
ern section of the NWT. The isolation and distance experienced by 'the East'
acted as a springboard for the campaign calling for a government that would
better represent and address Inuit needs. The argument was that, to do this,
Inuit needed to be politically and physically separate. The vision was informed
by an understanding that a political system located within Inuit homeland
would inspire Inuit to participate in the political decision-making processes,
a belief expressed by Emile Imaruittuq: 'We don't put our knowledge to
use. Maybe when we get Nunavut we will stand up for ourselves' (Oosten
et al . 1999:93). This campaign was effective, and resulted in the creation of
Nunavut. Many Inuit believed the GN would allow Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit
to direct political and government decisions and processes. Achieving this
goal has proved challenging. In its 2003 final report titled 'Our Words Must
Come Back to Us', Inungni Sapujjijiit, the Nunavut Taskforce on Suicide
Prevention and Community Healing, expressed its concern over the contin-
ued practice of southern Canadian experience determining the direction of