NR 07-02 IIB ENG IIBA Negotiations Conclude.doc
(February 9, 2007 – Cambridge Bay, Nunavut) Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) 1st Vice-President James Eetoolook today announced that an Agreement-in-Principle between Inuit organizations and the Government of Canada was reached for an Umbrella Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (IIBA) for Migratory Bird Sanctuaries and National Wildlife Areas in Nunavut.
Negotiations for the IIBA began in 2004. Several Inuit organizations were party to the process including NTI, Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Kivalliq Inuit Association, Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and the Nangmautaq (Clyde River) Hunters and Trappers Organization.
Eetoolook said he hopes the official signing of the Final Agreement will take place this spring at the Niginganiq National Wildlife Area, the proposed bowhead whale sanctuary near Clyde River.
Inuit in Clyde River have worked for two decades to have the world’s first bowhead whale sanctuary recognized and legally protected. Signing the agreement in this location is extremely meaningful and brings to a close the hard work and effort we have dedicated to this file, said Eetoolook.
The IIBA will provide $8.3 million in benefits for 13 Nunavut communities over a seven-year period. The funds were negotiated to develop ecologically sustainable economic opportunities, which include a $4 million Inuit Tourism Fund to enhance local Inuit tourism providers’ capacity to deliver ecotourism products and services, as well as $1 million for the development of cultural and natural resource materials, based on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, for use by Inuit tourism providers. An additional $680,000 will go toward Inuit student and field assistant programs, and $600,000 will be specifically targeted at tourism development at two new National Wildlife Areas at Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River.
Approval of the IIBA funding provisions must be approved by both Treasury Board and Parliament before final government ratification.
Other key features of the agreement include the creation of a joint decision-making process for Inuit-supported permit applications on Inuit Owned Lands within these federally protected areas, and the government’s agreement to conduct resource assessments prior to making changes in the status of these protected areas.
According to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, this IIBA must be renegotiated every seven years, paving the way to providing benefits to Inuit for generations to come.
NTI is very pleased with the tourism development opportunities that this agreement will provide to Nunavut communities. Ecotourism is a key area for future economic opportunity for Nunavut. Just as important, this fulfills a long-standing Inuit dream to have the bowhead whale sanctuary receive official designation, said Eetoolook.
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