Kuujjuaq – Friday October 27th, 2006 – President Pita Aatami, along with his fellow executive members, is pleased to announce that 78 % of eligible Nunavik Inuit voters have approved the Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement (NILCA). An impressive 81% of eligible voters cast their ballots during last week’s referendum.
Ratification by Nunavik Inuit is a major step in the formal ratification process, setting the stage for signature by Makivik Corporation and the Government of Canada. Now Canada must ratify this historic treaty by signing it and adopting legislation to bring it into force.
Among its many important features, the NILCA grants ownership to Nunavik Inuit of 80% of the islands in the Nunavik Marine Region, including full subsurface rights. It provides capital transfer and implementation funding and creates new management regimes for wildlife, lands and resource development. It also contains overlap agreements with the Inuit of Labrador, the Inuit of Nunavut and the Crees of Eeyou Istchee.
For more details on the results of the vote please consult the NILCA website: www.nilca.ca
Makivik Corporation is the Inuit owned economic development company created following the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) in 1975. It has the mandate to represent the 9,800 Inuit of Nunavik at the political level, and to administer the funds of the Agreement accorded to the Inuit ($90-million has been received over a 20 year period). Makivik owns subsidiary companies such as Air Inuit, First Air, Nunavik Arctic Foods, Nunavik Creations, Halutik Fuels, Cruise North, and jointly owns with other Inuit regional corporations Pan Arctic Inuit Logistics (PAIL).
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Contact:
Lisa Koperqualuk
Communications Officer
514-745-8880
cell: 386-0669
