Negotiating and Implementing the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement

Paul Quassa and Terry Fenge, chief negotiator and research director, respectively, of the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, which negotiated the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, recall how Inuit “who were enfranchised federally only in 1960 and who were largely seminomadic until the early to mid-1960s and had very few formally educated leaders,” successfully negotiated a modern treaty “that literally changed forever the face of Canada.” They identify pressing and unresolved problems in implementing this agreement and other modern treaties, and conclude that a formal policy is needed to ensure that federal agencies fulfill their implementation obligations and responsibilities.