Nunatsiavut Assembly Nunatsiavut katimajitsuangit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
President | |
First Minister | Tony Andersen,non-partisan consensus government |
Speaker of the Nunatsiavut Assembly | |
| Seats | 18 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Nunatsiavut Assembly Building, Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador | |
| Website | |
| Nunatsiavut Assembly | |
The Nunatsiavut Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of Nunatsiavut, Canada. [2] [3]
On January 22, 2005, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut signed the Labrador Inuit Lands Claims Agreement [4] with the federal and provincial governments covering 72,520 km2 (28,000 sq mi) of land, including the entire northern salient of Labrador north of Nain as well as a portion of the Atlantic coast south of there. The agreement also includes 44,030 km2 (17,000 sq mi) of sea rights. Although the Inuit will not own the whole area, they were granted special rights related to traditional land use, and they will own 15,800 km2 (6,100 sq mi) designated Labrador Inuit Lands.
The Labrador Inuit Lands Claims Agreement is a treaty between the Inuit of Labrador, the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the federal government of Canada, that is constitutionally protected under the aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada granted by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. [4]
The agreement was ratified by the Labrador Inuit, the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, and the Parliament of Canada, where it received Royal Assent on June 23, 2005. [2]
On December 1, 2005, the constitution was formally adopted, and a swearing-in ceremony was held for the first cabinet, [5] an interim government which consisted of members of the Labrador Inuit Association board of directors. [5] This day marked the official transfer of power from the provincial government to the newly formed Government of Nunatsiavut "to make their own laws relating to cultural affairs, education and health". [3]
In October 2006, Nunatsiavut held its first election to form a nine-member government, which was sworn in on October 16 in Hopedale. [6]
The current Nunatsiavut Assembly Building in Hopedale opened in 2012. [7] [8]
Marlene Winters-Wheeler became speaker in February 2021. [9]
The Nunatsiavut Assembly consists of 10 ordinary members (6 for Nunatsiavut and 4 for its diaspora), the president of Nunatsiavut and the heads of the Inuit Community governments and corporations. Nain, Canada and Upper Lake Melville are each represented by 2 members while Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville and Rigolet are each represented by 1 member. Only Inuit residents of each constituency can vote in Nunatsiavut's elections (Inuit make up 88% of Nunatsiavut's population) while minorities are represented in municipal councils which each have a non-Inuit member to promote minority interests. Nunatsiavut does not use a party system. [10]
| Riding | Member |
|---|---|
| Nunatsiavut | |
| Hopedale | Greg Flowers |
| Makkovik | John Andersen [11] |
| Nain | Tony Andersen Jim Lyall |
| Postville | Tyler Edmunds |
| Rigolet | Carlene Palliser |
| Other areas | |
| Canada | Susan Sonya Onalik [12] Roland Saunders |
| Upper Lake Melville | Gerald Asivak Marlene Winters-Wheeler |
The President of Nunatsiavut also serves on the Nunatsiavut Assembly. The holder of this role since 2016 is Johannes Lampe.
The heads of the Inuit Community governments (official title is "AngajukKâk", serve a similar role as a Mayor) also serve in the assembly. [13]
| Inuit Community Government | Member |
|---|---|
| AngajukKâk for Hopedale | Majorie Flowers |
| AngajukKâk for Makkovik | Barry Andersen [14] |
| AngajukKâk for Nain | Julius Dicker |
| AngajukKâk for Postville | Glen Sheppard |
| AngajukKâk for Rigolet | Charlotte Wolfrey |
Additionally, the chairperson of the NunaKatiget Community Corporation and the chairperson of the Sivunivut Inuit Community Corporation serve on the Nunatsiavut Assembly. The 2 corporations represent the Inuit of Upper Lake Melville (Sivunivut represents North West River while NunaKatiget represents Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Mud Lake).
| Corporation | Chairperson |
|---|---|
| NunaKatiget Community Corporation | Patricia Kemuksigak |
| Sivunivut Inuit Community Corporation | Maxene Winters |
| Portfolio | Minister | District |
|---|---|---|
| First Minister | Tony Andersen [15] | Nain |
| Finance, Human Resources, & Information Technology | Tyler Edmunds [15] | Postville |
| Education & Economic Development | Carlene Palliser [15] | Rigolet |
| Health & Social Development | Gerald Asivak | Upper Lake Melville |
| Lands & Natural Resources | Greg Flowers [15] | Hopedale |
| Language, Culture, & Tourism | Jim Lyall | Nain |
Labrador is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its population. It is separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle. It is the largest and northernmost geographical region in the four Atlantic provinces.
Nunatsiavut is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inuit Association submitted a proposal for limited autonomy to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The constitution was ratified on December 1, 2005, at which time the Labrador Inuit Association ceased to exist, and the new Government of Nunatsiavut was established, initially being responsible for health, education and cultural affairs. It is also responsible for setting and conducting elections, the first of which was executed in October 2006. An election for the ordinary members of the Nunatsiavut Assembly was held on May 4, 2010. Its incumbent president is Johannes Lampe who assumed office in 2016.
Nain is the northernmost permanent settlement in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, within the Nunatsiavut region, located about 370 km (230 mi) by air from Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The town was established as a Moravian mission in 1771 by Jens Haven and other missionaries. As of 2021, the population is 1,204 mostly Inuit and mixed Inuit-European. Nain is the administrative capital of the autonomous region of Nunatsiavut.
Hebron was a Moravian mission and the northernmost settlement in Labrador. The traditional Nunatsiavummiutitut name for the area means "the Great Bay". Founded in 1831, the mission disbanded in 1959. The Inuk Abraham Ulrikab and his family, exhibited in human zoos in Europe in 1880, were from Hebron.
Hopedale is a town located in the north of Labrador, the mainland portion of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hopedale is the legislative capital of the Inuit Land Claims Area Nunatsiavut, and where the Nunatsiavut Assembly meets. As of the 2021 census, it has a population of 596.
Labrador Airways Limited, operating as Air Labrador, was a regional airline based at the Goose Bay Airport in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It operated scheduled daily passenger and freight services throughout Labrador and Quebec, as well as charter operations with the options of landing in remote and off strip destinations with skis, wheels and floats. The airline's main base was Goose Bay Airport, with a secondary hub at Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon Airport, Quebec. Its motto was "The Spirit of Flight".
Torngat Mountains is a provincial electoral district for the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. As of 2011 there are 2,130 eligible voters living within the district. The district takes its name from the Torngat Mountains.
Nain Airport is located on the shore of Unity Bay near Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Postville is an Inuit town in the north of Labrador, Canada. It had a population of 188 as of 2021. It is located about 40 km (25 mi) inside Kaipokok Bay, 180 km (110 mi) NNE of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Postville Airport is nearby.
Makkovik is a town in Labrador in eastern Canada. It had 365 residents in 2021. The main industry is snow crabbing and there is a fishing cooperative.
Randy Edmunds is a Canadian politician in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2011 provincial election. A member of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, he represented the electoral district of Torngat Mountains until 2019.
NunatuKavut is a proposed NunatuKavummiut territory in central and southern Labrador. The region proposed by the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) extends from north of the community of Makkovik in Nunatsiavut to south of the community of Blanc-Sablon in Quebec. It also extends to the west as far as the border between Quebec and Labrador. Previous submissions by the NunatuKavummiut included a secondary claim as far north as Nain, the northernmost community in Nunatsiavut.
The Nunatsiavut Assembly Building in Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador is the seat of the autonomous Nunatsiavut Assembly.
William Andersen III is a former politician in Labrador, Canada. He represented Torngat Mountains in the Newfoundland House of Assembly from 1993 to 1996.
Johannes Lampe is a Canadian politician who is the current President of Nunatsiavut, an autonomous Inuit region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jim Lyall was a Canadian politician and Inuit advocate who served as the first President of Nunatsiavut.
Lela Margaret Ann Evans is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2019 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Torngat Mountains as a Progressive Conservative. Having been elected as a PC MHA, she left the party in 2021 and joined the New Democratic Party in 2022. She returned to the PCs in 2024. She was first elected in the 2019 provincial election and was re-elected in 2021.
Kate Mitchell is a Labrador Inuit politician who was the First Minister of Nunatsiavut from 2014 to 2019.
Samuel (Sam) Ephriam Metcalfe was an Inuk from Northern Labrador, Canada. A survivor of the Canadian Indian residential school system, Metcalfe was part of the first generation of Labrador Inuit who fought to regain their culture and to obtain self-determination and self-government. Metcalfe contributed much to the development of Inuktitut as a teacher and a researcher and more specifically, to preserving Inuttitut, the Labrador Inuit dialect.
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