Closing the Citizenship Gap in Canada\u27s North: Indigenous Rights, Arctic Sovereignty, and Devolution in Nunavut

When Canada signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in 1993, it committed to create a new territory, Nunavut, as an Inuit homeland in the Canadian Eastern Arctic. Parliament fulfilled this promise with the passage of the Nunavut Act, and the new territory came into existence on April 1, 1999. Still, the Government of Nunavut remains a creature of statute and has only such powers as Parliament has devolved to it. To date, these devolved powers do not include jurisdiction over lands and resources. Nunavut is the only place in Canada where Canadian citizens may not elect a sub-national legislature empowered to make fundamental decisions about the land beneath their feet. This Article explores the impact of this citizenship gap on indigenous rights in Nunavut and on Canada\u27s security posture in the Arctic. As the sea ice melts and as much as a trillion dollars of oil and gas becomes profitably extractable, decisions about natural resources will become a focus not only of Canada’s domestic politics, but also of its international engagement. With a comparatively weak military presence in the Arctic, Canadian sovereignty has been borne out primarily in the form of permanent settlement, and the Inuit have played the part of “human flagpoles” in federal Northern policy. This Article argues that devolution, as a means to Inuit self-government, must occur in tandem with assertions of Canadian sovereignty in the Far North

Closing the Citizenship Gap in Canada's North: Indigenous Rights, Arctic Sovereignty, and Devolution in Nunavut

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

An Unfinished Joruney: Arctic Indigenous Rights, Lands, and Jurisdiction?

The indigenous rights movement has been defined as a struggle for land and jurisdiction. Over the last forty years, American and Canadian governments made much progress on the land question in the Arctic and sub-Arctic; however, from an irrational fear of the unknown, politicians in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa have effectively blocked the pathways to aboriginal jurisdiction or self-government. During the late-twentieth century in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, as well as in Nisga’a territory, indigenous governments negotiated local government powers, but continent-wide progress on the question of indigenous jurisdiction has stalled. This Article considers the formation and implementation of land treaties with indigenous peoples, the international impact of such treaties, the effect of settler history, and the struggle for indigenous jurisdiction. It concludes that if the governments do not open their hearts and minds to the cause, First Nation frustration could turn into violent confrontation

Land claims and self government agreements in Yukon. by Tony Penikett

tag=1 data=Land claims and self government agreements in Yukon. by Tony Penikett tag=2 data=Penikett, Tony tag=3 data=Canadian Parliamentary Review, tag=4 data=16 tag=5 data=3 tag=6 data=Autumn 1993 tag=7 data=14-16. tag=8 data=ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIMS tag=10 data=The experience of negotiating land claims and self government agreements with Yukon may be instructive for other jurisdictions beginning the process. tag=11 data=1994/6/1 tag=12 data=94/0030 tag=13 data=CABThe experience of negotiating land claims and self government agreements with Yukon may be instructive for other jurisdictions beginning the process