Everything about Nunavut totally explained
Nunavut (
Inuktitut syllabics: ) is the largest and newest
territory of
Canada; it was separated officially from the
Northwest Territories on
April 1 1999 via the
Nunavut Act and the
Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries were established in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's map since the incorporation of the new province of
Newfoundland in 1949.
The capital
Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay") on
Baffin Island, in the east, was chosen by the
1995 capital plebiscite. Other major communities include the regional centres of
Rankin Inlet and
Cambridge Bay. Nunavut also includes
Ellesmere Island to the north, as well as the eastern and southern portions of
Victoria Island in the west. Nunavut is both the least populated and the largest of the provinces and territories of Canada. It has a population of only 29,474
Nunavut means 'our land' in
Inuktitut, the language of the
Inuit. Its inhabitants are called
Nunavummiut, singular
Nunavummiuq.
History
The region now known as Nunavut has supported a continuous population for approximately 4,000 years. Most historians also identify the coast of Baffin Island with the
Helluland described in Norse
sagas, so it's possible that the inhabitants of the region had occasional contact with
Norse sailors.
,
Eskimo
The written history of Nunavut begins in 1576.
Martin Frobisher, while leading an expedition to find the
Northwest Passage, thought he'd discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as
Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island. The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. The contact was hostile, with both sides taking prisoners who subsequently perished.
Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including
Henry Hudson,
William Baffin and
Robert Bylot.
In 1976 as part of the land claims negotiations between the
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called the
Inuit Tapirisat of Canada) and the
federal government, the division of the Northwest Territories was discussed. On
April 14,
1982, a
plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories with a majority of the residents voting in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later. The land claims agreement was decided in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut. On
July 9 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act
Geography
The Territory covers about 1.9 million km² (750,000 sq mi) of land and 161,000 km² (62,000 sq mi) of water in
Northern Canada including part of the mainland, most of the
Arctic Archipelago, and all of the islands in
Hudson Bay,
James Bay, and
Ungava Bay (including the
Belcher Islands) which belonged to the Northwest Territories. This makes it the
fifth largest subnational entity (or
administrative division) in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 13th in area, after the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nunavut has land borders with the Northwest Territories on several islands as well as the mainland, a border with
Manitoba to the south of the Nunavut mainland, and a tiny land border with Newfoundland and Labrador on
Killiniq Island. It also shares aquatic borders with the provinces of
Quebec,
Ontario and Manitoba and with Greenland.
The creation of Nunavut created Canada's only
"four corners", at the intersection of the boundaries of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, and
Saskatchewan at, on the southern shore of
Kasba Lake. This isn't the tourist spot it might be, as it's extremely remote and inaccessible. Nevertheless there's a marker (albeit an out-of-date one) at the point, and some have made the trek. Nunavut's highest point is
Barbeau Peak.
Nunavut's small, sparse population makes it unlikely the territory will be granted provincial status in the foreseeable future, although this may change if the
Yukon, which is only marginally more populous, becomes a province.
| Municipality |
2006 |
2001 |
growth |
| Iqaluit |
6,184 |
5,236 |
18.1% |
| Rankin Inlet |
2,358 |
2,177 |
8.3% |
| Arviat |
2,060 |
1,899 |
8.5% |
| Baker Lake |
1,728 |
1,507 |
14.7% |
| Igloolik |
1,538 |
1,286 |
19.6% |
| Cambridge Bay |
1,477 |
1,309 |
12.8% |
| Pangnirtung |
1,325 |
1,276 |
3.8% |
| Pond Inlet |
1,315 |
1,220 |
7.8% |
| Kugluktuk |
1,302 |
1,212 |
7.4% |
| Cape Dorset |
1,236 |
1,148 |
7.7% |
It is a commonly-held misconception that Nunavut is made up of some of the former regions of the NWT, separated in their entirety. This isn't the case; the dividing line didn't follow region boundaries, although boundaries have been subsequently finessed so that three former NWT regions collectively constitute Nunavut. They serve (under different names) as
census divisions, but have no autonomous governments:
The former
NWT's Baffin Region was entirely transferred to Nunavut. The
former Kitikmeot Region is mostly in Nunavut, except two southwestern areas and the northwest corner of Victoria Island. Likewise, the
former Keewatin Region is largely in Nunavut, except a southwestern rectangle.
Fort Smith region and
Inuvik region remain census divisions of the Northwest Territories. A small right triangle of the former Fort Smith region is in Nunavut now, while none of the Inuvik region was transferred to Nunavut.
The aforementioned regional divisions are distinct from the
district system of dividing the Northwest Territories that dated to 1876 and was abolished when Nunavut was created. Nunavut encompasses the entirety of the old
District of Keewatin (which had differing boundaries from the Keewatin/Kivalliq regions), the majority of the
District of Franklin and a small portion of the
District of Mackenzie.
Government
Nunavut's head of state is a
Commissioner appointed by the federal
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. As in the other territories, the commissioner's role is symbolic and is analogous to that of a
Lieutenant Governor. While the
Commissioner isn't formally a representative of the
Queen of Canada, a role roughly analogous to representing
The Crown has accrued to the position.
The members of the
unicameral Legislative Assembly of Nunavut are elected individually; there are
no parties and the legislature is
consensus-based. The head of government, the
premier of Nunavut, is elected by, and from the members of the legislative assembly.
The territory's first legislature was dissolved on
January 16 2004, with an election shortly thereafter. See
Nunavut general election, 2004. As of 2007, Nunavut is in its second government.
Faced by criticism of his policies,
Premier Paul Okalik set up an advisory council of eleven elders, whose function it's to help incorporate
"Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit" (Inuit culture and traditional knowledge, often referred to in English as "IQ") into the territory's political and governmental decisions.
The territory has an annual budget of
C$700 million, provided almost entirely by the federal government. Former Prime Minister
Paul Martin designated support for Northern Canada as one of his priorities for 2004, with an extra $500 million to be divided among the three territories.
In 2005, the government of Nunavut collaborated with the federal government and the technology firm
SSI Micro to launch
Qiniq, a unique network which uses
satellite delivery to provide
broadband Internet access to 25 communities in Nunavut. As a result, the territory was named one of the world's "Smart 21 Communities" in 2005 by the
Intelligent Community Forum, a worldwide organization which honours innovation in broadband technologies.
Ministers
Deputy Premier - Levinia Brown
Minister of Community and Government Services - Levinia Brown
Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister of Economic Development and Transportation - Patterk Netser
Minister of Energy - Ed Picco
Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs - Paul Okalik
Chairman of the Financial Management Board - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister of Finance - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister of Health and Social Services - Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of Human Resources - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister of Justice - Paul Okalik
Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs - Paul Okalik
Minister responsible for the Crown Agency Council - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister responsible for the Human Rights Tribunal - Paul Okalik
Minister responsible for Labour Relations - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister responsible for Labour Standards Board - Paul Okalik
Minster responsible for the Liquor Licensing Board - Paul Okalik
Minister responsible for Mines - Patterk Netser
Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College - Ed Picco
Minister responsible for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation - Patterk Netser
Minister responsible for the Nunavut Development Corporation - Patterk Netser
Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation - Patterk Netser
Minister responsible for the Nunavut Liquor Commission - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation - Ed Picco
Minister responsible for Sport Nunavut - Louis Tapardjuk
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women - Leona Aglukkaq
Minister responsible for the Utility Rates Review Council - Paul Okalik
Minister responsible for the Workers Compensation Board - Olayuk Akesuk
Ex-ministers
Minister responsible for Nunavut housing - Olayuk Akesuk
Minister of Education, Immigration, Homelessness - Ed Picco
Minister of Energy - Ed Picco
Minister of Health and Social Services - Ed Picco
Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College - Ed Picco
Minister of Finance - Louis Tapardjuk, David Simailak
Minster responsible for the Liquor Licensing Board - David Simailak
Independent commissioners
Robert Stanbury - Integrity Commissioner
Eva Aariak - Languages Commissioner of Nunavut
Demographics
As of the 2006 Census the population of Nunavut was 29,474,
Language
Along with Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, and French are also official languages.
In his 2000 commissioned report (Aajiiqatigiingniq Language of Instruction Research Paper) to the Nunavut Department of Education, Ian Martin of York University states that a "long-term threat to Inuit language from English is found everywhere, and current school language policies and practices on language are contributing to that threat" if Nunavut schools follow the Northwest Territories model. He provides a 20 year language plan to create a "fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English" by 2020. The plan provides different models, including:
"Qulliq Model", for most Nunavut communities, with Inuktitut as the main language of instruction.
"Inuinnaqtun Immersion" model, for language reclamation and immersion to revitalize Inuinnaqtun as a living language.
"Mixed Population Model", mainly for Iqaluit (possibly for Rankin Inlet), as the 40% Qallunaat population (pronounced "howl-u-naat" in the kivaliq region)("Qaa-loo-naat" by the Iqaluitmuit) the Inuit term for Caucasians, may have different requirements.
The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 29,474. Of the 29,025 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages were:
There were also 260 responses of both English and a 'non-official language' (mainly Inuktitut); 20 of both French and a 'non-official language; 20 of both English and French; and about 140 people who either didn't respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. Only English and French were counted as official languages in the census. Nunavut's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.
Major mines
Lupin Mine - 1982-2005 - gold (located near the Northwest Territories boundary near Contwoyto Lake)
Polaris Mine - 1982-2002 - lead and zinc (located on Little Cornwallis Island, not far from Resolute)
Nanisivik Mine at Nanisivik - 1976-2002 - lead and zinc (near Arctic Bay)
Rankin Inlet Mine - 1957-1962 - nickel and copper
Jericho Diamond Mine - 2006-present - diamonds (located 400 km, 250 mi, northeast of Yellowknife)
Several mining projects are in the works; as of January 2006 Miramar Mining Corporation's Doris gold project and Cumberland Resources's Meadowbank gold project were in the process of review for approval.
In popular culture
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie wrote a song about the birth of this territory. The theme of the song is along the lines of "We'll keep Canada", he said, "and you can have Nunavut!" (pronouncing it "None-of-it").
Susan Aglukark is an Inuit singer and song writer. She has released 6 albums and has won several Juno Awards. She blends the Inuktitut and English languages with contemporary pop music arrangements to tell the stories of her people, the Inuit of Arctic.
On May 3, 2008, the Kronos Quartet premiered a collaborative piece with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq entitled Nunavut which makes use of an Inuit folk story.
The Nunavut licence plate, originally created for the Northwest Territories in the 1970s, which is shaped like a polar bear, has long been famous worldwide for its unique design. Nunavut adopted to use the same plate design in 1999 when it became a separate territory.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Nunavut'.
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