Pita Aatami, President
Mr. Aatami was born in Kuujjuaq in 1960. This community is considered the regional capital of Nunavik, territory located north of the 55th parallel in Quebec, Canada. His formal education includes attending the Federal Day School in Kuujjuaq, and Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1978-1979.
Pita Aatami was first elected President of Makivik Corporation in 1998, and has since been re-elected to that position by the Inuit residents of Nunavik. Makivik is the organization that represents the Inuit of Nunavik, established pursuant to the signing in 1975 of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, considered the first modern treaty in Canada.
Prior to being the President, he was Treasurer of Makivik from 1993 to 1998, and a Member of the Board of Makivik for the community of Kuujjuaq from 1987 to 1993.
Mr. Aatami currently holds numerous positions in conjunction with his work as President of Makivik Corporation. These include, Chairman of First Air, Former President of Kuujjuamiut, Halutik Enterprises, and Director or Treasurer of several subsidiaries of Makivik Corporation. Mr. Aatami has considerable business experience, having started small business ventures on his own, and in partnership with other Inuit.
In April 2008, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada appointed Mr. Aatami to the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board.
He is also past President of the Nayumivik Landholding Corporation in Kuujjuaq, and was the Deputy mayor of the community of Kuujjuaq for many years, as well as past President of the Kuujjuaq Recreation Committee. Mr. Aatami started the Kuujjuaq Youth Camp in his community more than 20 years ago The Youth Camp has inspired similar ones in other Nunavik communities. In 2008, in order to support Nunavik Inuit youth, Mr. Aatami was named Ambassador of Nunavik to the Arctic Winter Games held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
At the initiative of Mr. Aatami, Makivik established a Scholarship Fund to support Inuit post-secondary students who are pursuing their studies in college, trade school or university. More recently, Mr. Aatami convinced the former National Hockey League player, Joé Juneau, to come to Kuujjuaq and develop a studies-hockey program for Inuit youth with the objective to curve-down school dropout.
As past Treasurer and actual President of Makivik, Mr. Aatami has appeared on several occasions at Parliamentary Committees of the House of Commons and Committees of the National Assembly of Quebec, with the objective of explaining Nunavik Inuit issues, concerns and priorities.
He has made multiple appearances in public and in community meetings, including presentations and speeches on the Inuit of Nunavik activities and projects, challenges and successes, to various commercial, industrial, scientific, academic, cultural, governmental and private organizations and institutions.
He is a Board Member of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the organization that represents all the Inuit of Canada, and of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, that represents the 160,000 Inuit who live in Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
Regarding northern research, Makivik and its Nunavik Research Centre received in June 2007 the GOLD AWARD of the Canadian Environment Awards in the Environmental Health category. Mr. Aatami is also a member of the Board of Directors of ArcticNet, coordinated by Laval University in Quebec City, Canada.
In 2007, Reader’s Digest made Pita Aatami a HERO OF THE YEAR and described him as a “Tireless Fighter for His People”, and underlined his tenacity and his leadership.
On November 28, 2008, he was elected Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary for his support to northern research and education.
In March 2009, Pita Aatami was selected in Policy Leadership category as the 2009 winner of the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs at Carleton University. The jury citations reads as follow: “A tireless symbol of Aboriginal progress and sovereignty in the North, Pita Aatami has shaped policies that have uplifted and strengthened social, economic, and political progress for the Inuit that will serve for generations. The broad range of his policy leadership in the North, in business, education, politics, social progress and community development, and the broad impact of the causes he has championed and of his approach to championing these causes makes him a superb recipient of the 2009 Kroeger Award for Policy Leadership”.
On June 17, 2009, Mr. Aatami was made Chevalier of the Québec National Order. The ceremony took place at the Quebec National Assembly under the auspices of Premier of Québec, Jean Charest.
In September 2009, Mr. Aatami was the first Aboriginal person elected as Honorary Member of the CIÉRA (Aboriginal International Research Centre) of Laval University, Québec City, Canada, for his long-standing and continuous support to education and research in Nunavik, northern Québec, Canada. A commemorative plaque was presented to Mr. Aatami.
On March 31, 2010, at a ceremony held in Toronto, Pita Aatami was awarded the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame Award, in order to recognize and celebrate Mr. Aatami’s accomplishments as a business leader and his contribution to sustainable economic development.
April 2010
