Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s with great pride that I rise today, for today is a special day for all Inuvialuit everywhere. Today is the 24th anniversary of the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
Back in the early ’70s a group comprised of both young and old Inuvialuit realized that if they did not get organized, they might lose their rights as Inuvialuit people, so they established the Committee of Original Peoples’ Entitlement, also known as COPE. In 1974 they entered into formal negotiations with the Government of Canada. After ten years of negotiations, on June 5, 1984, COPE and the Government of Canada signed the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. This was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed north of the 60th parallel and only the second in Canada
at that time.
The Inuvialuit agreed to give up exclusive use of their ancestral lands in exchange for certain other guaranteed rights from the Government of Canada. The rights came in three forms: money, land and wildlife management. The Inuvialuit would now have legal control of 91,000 square kilometres of land, including 13,000 kilometres with subsurface rights to oil, gas and minerals, including the right to hunt and harvest anywhere in the claim.
The basic goals of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement are to preserve Inuvialuit culture, identity and values within the changing northern society; enable Inuvialuit to be equal and meaningful participants in the northern and national economy and society; and protect and preserve Arctic wildlife, environment and biological productivity.
With the signing, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, IRC, was established and was made responsible for managing the rights and benefits of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
I was 11 years old when that important agreement was signed, and I remember it being a day of celebration. I know it was something important. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take the opportunity to acknowledge those who played a role in that historic day.
Mr.
Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to
conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.