In advance of the upcoming NCC General Election on November 7, President Russell offers some reflection on the last four years. He highlights the incredible progress NCC has made and takes stock of some of the challenges.
Video Transcript
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Ullukut (ul/ou/kut), good day fellow Inuit of NunatuKavut.
Toddiuvunga
My name is Todd, your President.
As many of you know, your current Governing Council is reaching the end of its term, and an election is coming up and will be held on November 7.
I know I speak for all of my Governing Council members when I say how tremendously proud we are of the NunatuKavut Community Council and of each of you.
It has truly been a privilege and an honour to represent such a strong and resilient people, and a people who are still on their lands.
And, today, I am pleased to let you know that I will be running again for President of NunatuKavut.
I am honoured to put my name forward again.
So too are many of my fellow Governing Councillors who are putting their names forward as well, which I believe speaks to the strength of our organization and our people.
We want to continue this journey with you.
I thank each of the Councillors for their guidance, collaboration and friendship over these past four years. Their role is vital to ensuring a better future for our people and that comes with great responsibility. I say nakummek, nakummesuak, for taking on this important work.
In reflecting on the last four years, I highlight some of the incredible progress we have made and take stock of some of the challenges.
Internally, there has been significant change to ensure that we are more aligned with our Inuit values and ways of being.
We have developed and implemented our own governance structure that has transitioned NCC to a shared leadership model.
We have a values-based constitution that reflects our collective and individual rights and responsibilities to each other and to all of our relations.
And our new Governance Law protects and maintains the laws, culture, and practices of our people.
We also have a new citizenship and elections law.
We are currently working on the development of a harvesting law that will guide the management of our own resources.
These, my friends, are substantial pieces of work and I thank all of those involved.
Of course, this could not have been possible without you, without the engagement of each of you, our people.
Nakummek for your input and your sincere interest in the work that we do together.
It has only further enhanced NCC as a vibrant and resilient organization.
It is the only way that an organization can be resilient, when it involves and when it is built with its people.
We are seeing strengthened work. We are witnessing the real and tangible community impacts of introducing our own programming, like the Community Infrastructure Program, the Medical Transportation Program, the Home Repair Program, our Dog Team Driver Grant Program, and the enhanced George Roberts Community Grant Program.
We have an integral and robust citizenship process that was further enriched with a new citizenship law and policy this spring.
I would like to also acknowledge the hard work of Nunacor and their companies.
They are continuously seeking new opportunities to diversify and grow their business lines.
We cannot forget the newly opened Mamattuk restaurant, the latest in our line of businesses. And what an amazing and outstanding restaurant it is. It really is a star in the north.
Nunacor is also fundamental to our industry relationships and what we do within our own industries.
In terms of our federal relationship, it remains strong.
While our rights and recognition process with Canada is not moving as quickly as we had hoped since we signed our MOU in 2019, NCC has received significant resources since that time to do and carry out some important work.
NCC had just celebrated an unequivocal Federal Court win around our MOU. The decision says that our MOU stands, it is valid, and that Canada and NCC should continue with negotiations.
And we hold the Government of Canada accountable to this court decision, and to our previous wins in court, and to their commitments to our rights process.
NCC continues to carry out some very critical work around energy sovereignty and climate change, which I know that many of us are experiencing, with the federal government as key partners and funders.
NCC just received an Indigenous allocation for the commercial cod fishery that recognizes our adjacency, our cultural attachment, our rights, and our needs.
It is breathing new life into our communities, and it is great to see.
We are working with Parks Canada to ensure that the rights of our people are respected in relation to the Mealy Mountains National Park, and that we do, and are, fundamental to this park’s development.
We also received nearly $14 million over three years in COVID funding to provide much-needed programming for our people. The response and the appreciation was amazing.
At the provincial level, our relationship, too, is strong.
We signed an education MOU to ensure that you and our future generations see themselves reflected in curriculum throughout the province.
We were added to provincial Children, Youth and Families Act, which allows NCC to appoint an Indigenous Representative to help provide cultural connections for NunatuKavut Inuit children and youth.
And, of course, we witnessed a historic apology from the Premier to former Residential School students and their families.
It was the first apology in the country from a Province around their role in the Residential Schools system. It was a very important and memorable day.
I am also pleased to report that our relationship with industry and business remains solid.
We are pursuing strengthened agreements with industry partners, and you may hear some new and encouraging announcements in the not-too-distant future.
We remain committed to Search Minerals in their efforts to bring the rich mineral resources of our lands into a full mining operation.
And we just negotiated a new five-year harvesting agreement with the Labrador Fisherman’s Union Shrimp Company.
All great things that are happening within NunatuKavut.
And yet, we do experience some challenges, like we are experiencing with academic institutions. And we have to remind ourselves though, that it wasn’t too long ago that we were involved in the development of Memorial’s university campus right here in Labrador, and we are an important part of the Constitution.
And that even though that these challenges do exist, we still carry on our relationships and our work with universities that help advance research for NunatuKavut Inuit.
I look at the creation of the Sandwich Bay Hub, which is another great example of collaboration.
We will never stop, we will never stop pushing for respect of our rights and recognition with academic institutions and other institutions across Canada to ensure that NunatuKavut Inuit students feel safe and empowered to express who they are and where they come from, and that they can pursue whatever educational opportunities they need to. Our youth are so important. This is so important for our future.
NCC also continues to look for ways to partner with other Indigenous groups provincially, nationally and globally.
We are a part of the Premier’s Indigenous Leaders Roundtable.
We are an active affiliate of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, our national organization.
These are important avenues to advance our work, and we participate in international events like the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and other Arctic and northern-related forums.
We do this amazing work, but we would not be able to celebrate it or do it without you, our people, and of course, our dedicated teams at NCC and Nunacor.
I offer my sincere appreciation to all of our staff who work hard each day to help us fulfil this vision, our vision, of being self-governing, of providing and caring for one another, our families and our communities, while nurturing our deep relationship with our lands, our ice, and our waters.
Nakummesuak – a great big thank you.
But these past few years have also come with some very, very disturbing, direct attacks upon us, our people.
And we have been subjected to misinformation campaigns, and campaigns built on false allegations.
I recognize that it is having an impact on our team and our people, yet what is our response?
And our response is to remain focused, to remain committed, to remain dedicated, to our journey of self-determination, to the progress and success that is required for our people to remain healthy, to ensure that they have, that you our people have, what they need.
We have always known who we are, where we come from, and why we matter.
We are Inuit. We come from Inuit. It is a fact that Inuit defended their lands and waters and entered into the British-Inuit Treaty of 1765.
It is also a fact that we descended from those same Inuit.
These are our grandmothers and our grandfathers. Our aunts. Our uncles. Our cousins.
It is a fact we travel on the same routes of those who came before us. We harvest on the same lands. We fish in the same waters, and we trap on the same traplines.
It is a fact that we have won in the courts and have many relationships and agreements with both the federal and provincial governments, and Indigenous governments, and indeed, other bodies.
These are the facts. This is part of our story.
NCC remains undeterred. Your Governing Council remains undeterred. We are focused on the work that needs to get done.
I know that when you reflect upon all this work that is being done in such a good and meaningful way, you will see that having your own governance, having your own government, is really the best form of governance.
I know, and you know, that together we can ensure that our people are safe, healthy and well for the many generations to come.
Nakummesuak to each of you. It truly has been an honour to represent you, to fight with you and for you.
And this is really what makes us stand out as a government, is that together we give expression to our hopes, our needs, and where we want to go in the future. We know that together we can accomplish so much.
Nakummek. Nakummesuak.