Makivvik President Pita Aatami and Quebec Premier François Legault met in Montreal on December 20 to sign a Nunavik Self-Government Negotiation Accord, a major milestone to further discussions toward Nunavik self-governance. All Makivvik Executives were present for the signing, along with Nunavik self-determination negotiators, Tunu Napartuk and Anthony Ittoshat, and Quebec’s Minister Responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit Ian Lafrenière. In a meeting before the official signing, President Aatami gifted the Premier a carving by an Inukjuak artist, and a Nunavik map showing Inuktitut place names.

The Makivvik Executive and the Premier spoke about the success of Makivvik’s subsidiaries and Legault said he felt the three years left in his mandate was time enough to accomplish movement toward Inuit governance. President Aatami said this agreement, leading to talks to allow Inuit to have control over their own lives, is decades in coming. Three agreements have been signed previously in 2003, 2007, and 2011 on matters including the creation of a Nunavik Regional Government and the terms of its establishment and operation.

“We are a welcoming people, but we want to do this with you, instead of being told how,” President Aatami said at the signing. “For us this is the beginning of a new friendship with Quebec. We want to do this in partnership.” He said the majority of 7 million Quebecers will never see Nunavik and he wants them to know they are welcome, but on Inuit terms. “I don’t want to be seen as a place to get minerals; I want them to see a place of beauty.”

Premier Legault said that reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is a paramount responsibility for the Quebec government, and the signing of the Nunavik Self-Government Negotiations Accord sets the table for the continued negotiations toward an agreement on Nunavik governance in 2024.

“I am optimistic about what the future has in store for the relationship between our two nations,” Legault said.