Breakaway QIA members look to HTOs, hamlets for support

Seven northern communities contemplating a split from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association have a self-imposed Feb. 15 deadline to collect signatures in support of forming their own Inuit organization.

Jayko Alooloo, a former chair of Pond Inlet's HTO and one of the leaders of the movement to form a North Baffin Inuit organization says the divide has been in discussion for about a year.

Hall Beach, Igloolik, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Arctic Bay,Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord are considering the movethatwould divide QIA in half.

QIA currently represents 13 communities,including Iqaluit, Kimmirut, Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq and Sanikiluaq.

The main point of contention centres around royalty payments from Baffinland's Mary River mine.

"We've never been dealing with QIA about funding or royalties in the last four years at all," Alooloo said.

"That's one of the reasons why we wanted to divide, because they will have to do more dealing with communities who areaffected by exploration."

Local hamlet councils and hunter and trapper organizations are being tapped to support the push to separate from QIA.

Alooloo says splitting up QIA wouldbetter reflect the Kivalliq andKitikmeot Inuit Associations, which represent about half the communities QIA currently does.

"When compared to Kivalliq and Kitikmeotwho seem to be running finethere is just too much responsibility to cover that much ground,"he said in Inuktitut.

"We are expecting that we will soon see what direction it will take. It is our belief that this separation is necessary for proper advocacy for the people."

Board meeting

QIA board members spent much of Wednesday morning and afternoon in a closed-doormeeting at the Anglican Parish Hall in Iqaluit.

The board approved a draft budget earlier in the day that would see an additional $800,000 from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc in its 2017-18 budget.

Last year, the board voted to request NTI switch to a per capita core funding model that would make up for budget shortfalls.

QIA says on a per capita basis, the Baffin region is the least funded association by NTI.

Additional scholarships proposed

The QIA board also will look to add dozens of new post-secondary scholarships for prospective students across the 13 communities it represents.

The plan is to offer two to three scholarships in each community in addition to the John Amagoalik Journalism Scholarship it currently offers.

The draft budget will be discussed at QIA's finance meeting later in February.

It will then be presented to NTI for approval in March.