JOHN AMAGOALIKNovember 19, 1998
My Little Corner of Canada: Bits
and pieces
JOHN AMAGOALIK
Bribing You With Your Own Money
Politicians seem to think that they have found a formula for getting re-elected. What they do is this: After having been elected to office, they spend the first part of their mandate doing the unpopular stuff like budget cuts and layoffs. They hope the people will forget the unpopular stuff in the latter part of their mandate.
When the next election comes around, they promise to spend millions of dollars on this and that. They promise to hire more people to do that and this.
Lucien Bouchard is doing exactly that in this Quebec election. Having cut billions of dollars from things like health care and education two years ago, Mr. Bouchard is now promising to spend billions of more dollars on health care and education if he is re-elected.
Premier Harris of Ontario will do the same thing when he calls an election next spring. Federal parties tend to do the same thing on a national level. We hope the Government of Nunavut will not manipulate public opinion by this questionable practice with public flinds.
Nuclear Subs Under Nunavut Ice
Russia and the United States have finally admitted what we have known for a long time. During the Cold War (perhaps even now), the two powers played cat and mouse with nuclear submarines under Canadian Arctic ice.
Canadian political leaders probably knew about this and choose not to talk about it. The possibility of a nuclear accident, even if remote, is indeed a very scary thought.
Russia and the United States have a bad record of pollution in the Arctic. An island group in the Russian Arctic is the most nuclear contaminated spot on Earth. Here in Canada, we are lucky that the mess the Americans left in the Dew line sites are beginning to be cleaned up. Hopefully, they have learned their lessons and will no longer play nuclear roulette in our backyard and pantry.
The Stretched Out Revolution
Revolutions are usually sudden and violent. The spilling of huinan blood and the loss of lives are usually part of such events. Webster's Dictionary defines revolution as "a sudden, radical or complete change... a fundemental change in political organization; esp: the overthrow or the renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed."
The creation of Nunavut could easily fit this definition. But this revolution has not had the sudden and violent changes usually associated with such fundamental change. We have avoided them by stretching it out over 30 years.
November 6, 1998
My Little Corner of Canada: Trudeau's
Just Society
JOHN AMAGOALIK
When Pierre Trudeau first came up with the concept of a "Just Society" about 30 years ago, he probably had no idea that it would provide some encouragement to Inuit in their land claim negotiations and their struggle to create Nunavut.
To fully appreciate what a "just society" is, one must first experience what an "unjust society" is. Inuit have such experience. We know what it's like when there is very little justice in the justice system. We know what it's like when your culture is near collapse.
Many Canadians did not understand what Trudeau was talking about 30 years ago, because, in their minds, a just society already existed. As far as most Canadians were concerned, everything was just fine.
But we knew that everything was not just fine. We knew that society had to change. We, and other segments of society who had experienced discrimination and injustice, knew what Trudeau was talking about. We knew that all cultures, languages, religions and nations of people had to be treated with equal respect. The goal of a just society was a worthy goal and one we could work for because we did not have it.
Near the end of his political career, Trudeau was able to translate his vision of the 1960s into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the 1980s. Without most Canadians realizing it, Trudeau's Just Society had become part of the Canadian Constitution. His philosophical utterings of 1967 were now a big part of the law of the land.
Because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the recognition of aboriginal rights in the Constitution, Inuit were able to negotiate a new relationship with Canada, a new relationship that is based on mutual respect. Trudeau's Just Society was finally beginning to apply to us.
Trudeau has always been a controversial figure, reviled by some and adored by others. History will probably smile on him because of his vision of 30 years ago.
But gaining political and human rights means very little if it does not result in the improvement of our socio-economic status.
Our people are still poor. Our children need a better education system. The cost of living is almost unbearable. We need to create jobs. The next task is to harvest the fruits we have won.
November 6, 1998
My Little Corner of Canada: A product
of their times
JOHN AMAGOALIK
(The following is a speech, in part, that I gave at the Nunavut Night held at the National Press Club in Ottawa recently.)
First, I want to make it clear that I am speaking about our situation in Nunavut only. Other Inuit and other Aboriginal peoples in other parts of Canada have not yet achieved the level of self-government and the settlement of their land claims as we have. Labrador is the last Inuit region to sign a treaty and we hope that will happen soon.
Gone are the days when our children were forcefully removed from their families and communities and put into residential schools. Gone are the days when our people were the subjects of relocation projects. Gone are the days when we had very little say in our lives and what happened in our homeland. These sorts of things will no longer happen to us for two reasons: first, the government knows better than to try these things again, and secondly, because we would not allow these types of things to happen again.
The residential schools, relocations, colonial wardship. These things were a product of their times. These things happened because the relationship between Inuit and government was not human to human. It was a relationship of the colonizer and the colonized. It was a relationship of a dominant culture over a weaker society. Over the last 30 years, this relationship has gone through a slow and sometimes painful evolution.
Attitudes have changed. People are more aware and more understanding. Canada has changed, whether it realizes it or not. The new relationship is now human to human. That's why this new relationship is beginning to work better.
As said, colonialism, relocations, and residential schools were a product of their times. As we approach the new millennium, we can look at the Nunavut land treaty. The largest and most comprehensive land treaty in history. We can look at the rebirth of Nunavut. We can say that these things are a product of our times.
Sad and disappointed
The recent outburst by contributors to a political discussion forum against French education in Iqaluit makes me sad and disappointed. We know how it feels to be denied the resources needed to teach our children their language and culture.
Now that we are about to take charge of our education system, we should not diminish ourselves by trying to get even. The French community of Iqaluit have many long-term residents of Nunavut.
They supported our efforts to settlement our land claims and to create Nunavut. They will be loyal citizens of Nunavut. We also need their skills. Their presence enriches the cultural diversity of our community.