On April 1,1999, the Canadian government split the Northwest Territories in two and the former eastern part of the territory became Nunavut.
This was the culminiation of 150 years of abuses by the Canadian government.
However, Nunavut still suffers from the highest alcoholism rate of any province or territory, is the only province/territory without a highway system which hampers the economy, domestic violence is unacceptably high, and there have been reports of nepotism, and corruption and Ottawa opportunists in the capital Iqaluit(pronnounced E-ka-loo-it).
So is the creation of a Nunavut a series of more challenges, such as the aforementioned equal to the previous history of abuses?
We have a problem here Yellowknife, most of us do not know the history of abuses in the northwestern territory. Is it possible that you could help fill us in on what has happened in their past, and what led up to this separation into two territories?
However, given the information, it appears that this new territories has its own set of problems. Some of them are not due to the split as domestic abuse is still committed on an individual level and cannot be put on the government. I do believe that poverty itself can be a cause of this but in some case and indeed many cases is not the governments fault. Highway systems that hamper the economy of the territory are the governments responsibility and should be addressed to put that territory on equal footing with its neighbors.
Well in the Northwest Territories, the natives(Inuit) were always marginilized.
There wasn't any specific events that I can come of, but there has been exploitation and attempts at assimiliation which of course, failed miserably.
Also, the Inuit were really mad about Canada stealing their territory, so the Inuit petitioned for over 30 years for a land of the own, which is literally what Nunavut means, our land.
Now, I am questioning International Discussions if the effects of this decision, where they good or bad?
This is such a familiar story. This is what happened in the united states with our native culture that was, in many cases, wiped out. But what wasn't was completely marginalized and largely ignored and allowed to suffer in poverty with most of their land taken and their resources appropriated. But as in most cases with the original inhabitants, Nunavut was largely a bad idea based more on what the country "fit in" for the inuits, and less about making life better for the natives. Like the US and the Indians, they have chosen to do the least expensive and least profitable action for the natives. It was likely more about appeasing their own guilt and less about making life better for the inuits.