Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The history books record that Canada's sovereignty over the Eastern Arctic was established by the early efforts of churchmen and federal officials who were commissioned to travel into the North in the early 1900s. Names like Dr. Robert Bell, Reverend E.J. Peck and Dr. Leslie Livingstone have been remembered as the expeditionaries who strengthened Canada's Arctic claim.
The history books, Mr. Speaker, have conveniently overlooked the fact that these early travellers relied on the knowledge and good will of the Inuit throughout the region. Without the guides who cared for them on the land, these early heroes of Canadian exploration would never have been able to survive.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, an elder in my constituency, Mrs. Samuni Kanayuk, is celebrating her 100th birthday. As I spoke with her during my last visit to Broughton Island, I realized the important role that she and so many aboriginal people of her generation played in making the North a part of Canada.
Throughout the 1920s, Mrs. Kanayuk and her first husband, Ugyualuk, served as guides for Dr. Livingstone's expeditions throughout the South Baffin. She also accompanied Maurice Haycock and Dr. Ludlow Weeks, who attempted to map Cumberland Sound and Nettilling Lake. In fact, it was the Inuit guides who tended to Dr. Weeks and brought him in off the land after a jammed rifle exploded and severed his arm from his shoulder. Livingstone, Weeks, Haycock, Reverend Peck and the rest never would have succeeded in this quest, Mr. Speaker, without the assistance of Mrs. Kanayuk and other Inuit guides.
As we prepare to celebrate Canada's 125th birthday later this week, Mr. Speaker, I hope all Northerners will take just a moment to think of elders like Samuni Kanayuk whose contribution has meant so much to our northern homeland. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.