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Editors --- "The Bathurst Mandate" [2000] AUIndigLawRpr 11; (2000) 5(1) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 120

Policy and Procedure - CANADA

The Bathurst Mandate

Nunavut Legislative Assembly
Qingauq/Bathurst Inlet
21 October, 1999

The Bathurst Mandate is the program of the first government of the newly created and predominantly Inuit territory of Nunavut in north-eastern Canada. An area larger than Queensland, with some 27,000 people, 85 per cent of them Inuit, the new territory and government came into being on the first day of Canada’s fiscal year on 1 April 1999.

Because the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut elected on 15 February 1999 does not have a political party system, it was important that the members and the ministers they selected agree on some sort of program among members representing many communities and viewpoints. This document was developed at a series of retreats by ministers and senior officials, the key meeting taking place at the tiny picturesque community of Bathurst Inlet, also known as Qingauq. It reflects the high priority of urgent indigenous social problems; the concern with official integrity catalysed by several scandals in Northern Canada in recent years; the emphasis on strengthening and promoting the traditional Inuit culture of the region in a modern context; and the determination to achieve early practical results instead of just good intentions.

The separation of Nunavut from the Northwest Territories (NWT) was expected to lead to the adoption of a party system after the withdrawal of the Nunavut and Inuit caucus which had long acted like a de facto party. However, the subsequent NWT elections decisively rejected the bid by Canada’s social democrat New Democratic Party to initiate that transition. The ‘consensus government’ format remains, and with it, the need to continue building consensus through documents such as this one. It is often argued that a consensus-style of government is closer to local indigenous cultural tradition, and non-indigenous as well as indigenous ministers work comfortably enough within it. In contrast, the Yukon Territory (to the west of Nunavut) and the NWT has a fully fledged party system and a smaller indigenous proportion of the population (about a quarter).^[1]

Pinasuaqtavut — that which we’ve set out to do

• Our hopes and plans for Nunavut
• Healthy Communities
• Simplicity and Unity
• Self-Reliance
• Continuing Learning

The Government of Nunavut has developed this detailed plan with the help and inspiration of many people and organizations across the Territory. The origins of the paper are in the first Cabinet retreat at Kimmirut. Later the ideas were discussed at Baker Lake in June and then finalized in August 1999 at Bathurst Inlet.

We have listened to your hopes and ideas for the future of Nunavut. We have listened to your expectations of this new Government and to your priorities and needs. This is our plan for the next five years. These pages include our priorities for Nunavut; Healthy Communities, Simplicity and Unity, Self-reliance and Continuing Learning, and the principles that will guide us. We have outlined specific objectives for the next five years and also looked to the future, creating a vision of Nunavut in the year 2020. We welcome your views on this plan. Talk to your MLA and let us know your ideas. Over the coming months and years we will report back on the progress we make and review our targets with you. I am confident that together, we will make a real difference to the everyday lives of Nunavummiut^[2], today and in the future.

Paul Okalik
Premier, Government of Nunavut

Healthy Communities (Inuuqatigiittiarniq)

We believe that:

The health of Nunavut depends on the health of each of its physical, social, economic and cultural communities, and the ability of those communities to serve Nunavummiut in the spirit of Inuuqatigiittiarniq; the healthy interconnection of mind, body, spirit and environment.

Principles that will guide us are:

• People come first;
• People are responsible and accountable for their own well being;
• Nunavut needs to provide options and opportunities which build the strengths of individuals, families and communities;
• We acknowledge and will respond to the challenges of substance abuse, violence and loss as individuals, families and communities;
• Building the capacity of communities will strengthen Nunavut;
• All levels of government working together will strengthen Nunavut.

In 2020, Nunavut is a place where:

• Self assured, caring communities respond to the needs of individuals and families;
• We respect the accumulated wisdom of our elders, examining and evaluating our actions based on the best of both modern knowledge and traditional ways;
• Well informed individuals and communities have the capacity and exercise responsibility for decision making;
• Nunavummiut own and manage a strong mixed economy where residents have productive choices for economic participation;
• Strong transportation and communication links exist between communities and southern Canada, and increase communities’ land and water access;
• Health and social conditions and indicators are at or better than the Canadian average;
• Families and individuals in Nunavut have fair access to a range of affordable housing options;
• The raising and teaching of children and the care of those in need, Ilagiinniq (kinship) and Inuuqatigiinniq (community kinship), are a collective community process;
• We enjoy and manage a clean, pristine environment, in our communities and on the land and waters.

Over the next five years, Departmental Business Plans and activities will give priority to completing these objectives:

• Open and maintain a public dialogue on housing issues, while developing and implementing immediate and long-term plans to respond to housing shortfalls as one of the two primary commitments of this government’s mandate;
• Evaluate spending on courts and corrections, evaluate alternative program options and put in place long-term plans;
• Develop, with our land claims partners, a new Wildlife Act that recognizes the co-management regime of our resources;
• Recruit, train, and retain Health and Social Services staff at full capacity in all communities and facilities;
• Under the leadership of the departments of Sustainable Development, Community Government and Transportation and Health and Social Services, work with communities to:
• create within each department of the Government of Nunavut the ability to support community capacity building;
• and, on a community by community basis:
  • create a Capacity Plan to develop and support the people, assets and authorities needed to build strength and diversity in each community;
  • develop and maintain Wellness Plans for each Nunavut community, identifying strengths, gaps and needs create long-term plans to sustain and improve community resources and access for each identified community need;
  • create and maintain an Economic Strategy for Nunavut. and move to support and fund communities and programs in a manner consistent with these plans.
• Develop and implement a Nunavut-wide volunteer strategy.

Simplicity and Unity (Pijarnirnirqsat Katujjiqatiriittiarnirlu)

We believe that:

Simplicity in the processes of government encourages access by all; makes the tasks more focused and more achievable; and invites participation.

Principles that will guide us are:

• Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit^[3] will provide the context in which we develop an open, responsive and accountable government;
• By developing programs and services which are fair, understandable and easy to access we will encourage public participation and create accountability;
• Every activity and expense must have a productive purpose;
• Simplicity does not mean uniformity — diversity in approach can build on unique strengths, resources and ways of doing things;
• MLAs will be respected as important sources of community opinion;
• Co-operation will be the operating standard at every level.

In 2020, Nunavut is a place where:

• The Government of Nunavut conducts its business with openness and honesty, encouraging public input;
• The structures and activities of government serve Nunavut’s needs, with the most effective use of resources;
• Inuktitut,^[4] in all its forms, is the working language of the Government of Nunavut;
• Equal opportunities exist across Nunavut in areas of jobs, education, health, justice and all other services;
• An informed public has taken up the challenges and assumed the responsibilities of active community;
• Communities have seamless access to government officials, information and services.

Over the next five years, Departmental Business Plans and activities will give priority to completing these objectives:

• Remove, consolidate or integrate unnecessary government structures;
• Create a simple, timely and broadly based process for the creation and change of laws, using the forum of a Law Review;
• Allow broad public access to all laws and to government policies, forms and program information in English, French and Inuktitut in all its forms;
• Write and maintain simple and understandable policies for every government department;
• Create a single time zone;
• Recognize the need to support Nunavummiut in each age group to participate in community life and the life of Nunavut;
• Work within the land claim and with claims organizations to best use and share resources in Nunavut, while fulfilling land claims objectives and obligations;
• Develop a Nunavut business incentive policy, with our land claims partners, incorporating all the requirements of Article 24;
• Develop and implement a protocol agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated^[5] defining common goals and processes;
• Work with others in Nunavut to simplify and enhance access to business support programs.

Self-Reliance (Namminiq Makitajunarniq)

We believe that:

• As individuals we are each responsible for our own lives and responsible through our own efforts and activities to provide for the needs of our families and communities;
• As communities and as a government we are connected to and reliant on each other to care for those in need, to establish common goals, and to secure the resources required to achieve those goals;
• As Nunavummiut we look to support ourselves and contribute to Canada through the potential of our land, the responsible development of our resources and the contributions of our peoples and our cultures.

Principles that will guide us are:

• We will work within our means;
• We will incorporate traditional activities and values into new strategies to participate actively in the development of our economic resources;
• We will build on our strengths, respecting and highlighting the unique elements of our residents, communities, and the environment and economy in Nunavut;
• Nunavut residents should receive every opportunity to benefit from public dollars spent in and by Nunavut;
• Full and willing commitment to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement will be the standard;
• Nunavut can and will contribute to our country, as a committed and active participant in the life of Canada, and to the circumpolar world as an active Arctic neighbour.

In 2020, Nunavut is a place where:

• The Government of Nunavut meets its obligations under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in a spirit of active co-operation;
• There are options for individuals to achieve personal growth within Nunavut communities;
• Nunavummiut are active in taking up an increasing number of economic opportunities and have low levels of dependency on government;
• An informed society is making decisions for self, family and community;
• Access to programs and services are seamless — straightforward, understandable and efficient;
• Nunavut enjoys growing prosperity while remaining debt-free;
• Nunavut is an active and respected contributor, nationally and internationally.

Over the next five years, Departmental Business Plans and activities will give priority to completing these objectives:

• Conduct a review of Income Support and related issues to find common commitments, then implement a revised program, putting in place incentives for individuals and families to achieve self-reliance;
• Fulfill the commitments of government to deliver employment to decentralized communities;
• Working with the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, create new municipal legislation that will respond to the need for local options and opportunities for governance;
• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation systems for Government of Nunavut programs at all levels;
• Build local employment and strengthen and support local businesses and organizations while promoting effective competition;
• Conclude agreements with the Government of Canada for public investment in key infrastructure (connectivity, roads, wharves, geoscience, mapping);
• Bring to Nunavut, or review and renegotiate, all government functions contracted to the Government of the NWT on April 1, 1999;
• Commence negotiations and work towards agreements with the Government of Canada to assure Nunavut of a fair share of the resources of its lands and waters and to govern allocations and royalty regimes;
• Work to allow Nunavut to take its place and develop its role as an active, articulate, patient and conciliatory partner within Canada and the circumpolar world;
• Build an effective, functional and skilled public service, which is responsive to the public it serves and increasingly representative of the population of Nunavut.

Continuing Learning (Ilippallianginnarniq)

We believe that:

• To achieve the dreams of Nunavut we all need to listen closely and learn well in order to acquire the skills we need to increase our independence and prosperity.

Principles that will guide us are:

• The value of teaching and learning shall be acknowledged at all levels and from sources inside and outside of our communities;
• Learning is a lifelong process;
• Equal opportunity and equal access across Nunavut is fundamental to our success;
• It is important to recognize all of the potential teachers in our communities, beginning with elders and in families;
• Land and language skills and respectful pride in our cultures and languages are fundamental for adults and children;
• Our education system needs to be built within the context of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit;
• Respect for individuals is the basis of effective learning and a healthy workplace.

In 2020, Nunavut is a place where:

• Our population is adaptable to change and welcomes new skills, while preserving its culture, values and language of origin;
• We are a fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English, respectful and committed to the needs and rights of French speakers, with a growing ability to participate in French;
• We have a representative workforce in all sectors;
• Educational programs are offered on a strategic basis, based on community by community needs;
• There is a full range of interlocking educational programs allowing individuals continued access throughout spectrum;
• Inuit professionals of all kinds have been supported in their training and have taken leadership roles in our communities;
• Our history and accomplishments have been preserved and recognized in books and artworks, in recorded stories, in places of learning, and in common knowledge of our people. We are a source of pride to all Canadians;
• In our areas of strength, we have assumed a leadership role in Canada and have looked beyond Nunavut to give and receive inspiration and support, and to lead an active exchange of ideas and information.

Over the next five years, Departmental Business Plans and activities will give priority to completing these objectives:

• A government-wide effort to support training and learning for a Nunavut-based workforce as one of the two primary commitments of this government’s mandate;
• Train more elementary and high school teachers in Nunavut;
• Train nurses in Nunavut;
• Provide educational programs for a wide range of health and social services providers;
• Improve student/teacher ratios Nunavut-wide;
• Train in Nunavut for all the trades;
• Respond to the generation of passive speakers of Inuktitut in all its forms;
• View every element of the government budget as a potential training budget;
• Graduate more students from school, college and universities;
• Under the leadership of the departments of Human Resources and Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, every department will develop and implement, for current and future employees:
  • a strategy to support the Inuit Employment Plan;
  • a strategy for on-the-job training and mentoring;
  • a Nunavut orientation and language skills program;
• Increase opportunities in Nunavut for post-secondary learning;
• Begin the re-writing of the K-12 school curriculum, to emphasize cultural relevance and academic excellence, to be completed over the next 10 years;
• Support and improve the teaching and learning of Inuktitut in all its forms, and the teaching of language generally, in our schools;
• Put into place strategies to develop Nunavummiut in every profession as part of a resident workforce.?

[1] This document is available at <www.gov.nu.ca/eng/bathurst.html>. See also P Jull, ‘Reconciliation and Northern Territories, Canadian-Style: the Nunavut Process and Product’, (1999) (4) (20) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4; P Jull ‘The Bathurst Mandate’ (1999) (4) (27) Indigenous Law Bulletin 14.

[2] People of Nunavut.

[3] The Inuit way of doing things.

[4] The Inuit language.

[5] Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is the Inuit birthright corporation established by the Federal Parliament as a result of the Nunavut land claims negotiations and has many statutory responsibilities under the claims agreement. All Inuit yet to be born will automatically become members at birth and thereby entitled to elect officers, receive benefits, qualify for entitlements, etc. Nunavut’s dual constitutional arrangements are based on the Nunavut Act which creates a government for all inhabitants of Nunavut, and the parallel Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act which legislates the claims agreement into law, is protected under the national Constitution and is for the benefit of Inuit only.