Publications

In this report, some initial findings from the 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) concerning Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic are presented. For the purposes of this article, the Inuit population consists of those who identified as Inuit on the APS. 'Arctic' refers to the aggregate of the 53 communities identified in "Data quality, concepts and methodology - List of communities with large Inuit populations participating in the 2001 APS" section. Most of the information presented here is on adults, that is, those aged 15 and over. Brief mention is also made of some information related to Inuit children less than 15 years of age.

Le projet des Indices comparatifs des prix du Nunavik 2006 compare les prix de 199 produits alimentaires, 24 produits ménagers, 16 produits de soins personnels, 14 modèles populaires de motoneiges au Nunavik, les coûts mensuels de l'habitation et le prix des principaux équipements nécessaires à la poursuite des activités de chasse et de pêche, incluant l'essence.La recherche a été réalisée par la Chaire de recherche du Canada sur la condition autochtone comparée de l'Université Laval. La collecte des données au Nunavik a été faite par les agents locaux d'emploi de l'Administration Régionale Kativik dans les communautés de Kuujjuaq, Salluit et Inukjuak selon la méthode développée pour le projet d'ICPN 2000. Cette méthode est basée sur l'utilisation et l'adaptation d'indicateurs socioéconomiques nationaux, et sur la liste des biens, produits et services utilisée par Statistique Canada pour établir l'Indice des prix à la consommation. Cette méthode permet de mesurer la différence de prix d'une liste d'articles entre le Nunavik et la région de Québec. L'étude montre que la majorité des produits et services retenus pour la comparaison sont en moyenne, et à des degrés divers, plus cher au Nunavik. Notamment, les produits alimentaires y sont vendus en moyenne 57% plus cher que dans la région de Québec.

Le complément d'étude du projet d'Indices comparatifs des prix du Nunavik 2006 (ICPN 2006) compare les prix de 148 produits alimentaires, 17 produits ménagers, 15 produits de soins personnels, 14 modèles de motoneiges, l'essence régulière sans plomb, ainsi que certains équipements de chasse et de pêche dans trois régions du Québec : Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Jamésie, et Basse-Côte-Nord. La recherche a été réalisée par la Chaire de recherche du Canada sur la condition autochtone comparée de l'Université Laval. Les prix recueillis pour les ICPN 2006 ont servi de base comparative aux prix recueillis à Cap-aux-Meules, Matagami et La Romaine. Les données recueillies sont fondées sur des indicateurs socioéconomiques nationaux, et sur la liste des biens, produits et services utilisée par Statistique Canada pour établir l'Indice des prix à la consommation. Cette méthode permet de mesurer la différence de prix d'une liste d'articles entre le Nunavik, la région de Québec et les trois régions du complément d'étude. Les résultats montrent que toutes les catégories de produits comparés sont en moyenne, et à des degrés divers, plus cher au Nunavik que dans les autres régions à l'étude.

The Nunavik Comparative Price Index 2006 compares the prices of 199 food products, 24 household products, 16 personal care products, 14 commonly used models of snowmobiles, and certain essential hunting and fishing equipment (including gasoline), not to mention monthly housing costs. The study was carried out by the Canada Research Chair on Comparative Aboriginal Condition at the Université Laval. Data collection in Nunavik was completed by local employment officers of the Kativik Regional Government in the communities of Kuujjuaq, Salluit and Inukjuak based on the method developed for the Nunavik Comparative Price Index 2000. This method involves the use and adaptation of national socio-economic indicators as well as the goods, products and services list used by Statistics Canada to produce The Consumer Price Index. This method makes it possible to measure differences in prices between Nunavik and the Quebec City area. The Nunavik Comparative Price Index 2006 demonstrates that a majority of the products and services compared under the study are, on average and to varying degrees, more expensive in Nunavik. In particular, food products are, on average, 57% more expensive than in the Quebec City area.

This complementary study under the Nunavik Comparative Price Index 2006 compares the prices of 148 food products, 17 household products, 15 personal care products, 14 models of snowmobile, regular unleaded gasoline and certain hunting and fishing equipment in Nunavik and the Quebec City area with prices in three other regions of Québec: the Magdalen Islands, the James Bay area and the Lower North Shore. The data collected under the Nunavik Comparative Price Index 2006 were compared with prices gathered in Cap-aux-Meules, Matagami and La Romaine. The data collected are based on national socio-economic indicators as well as the goods, products and services list used by Statistics Canada to produce The Consumer Price Index. This method makes it possible to measure differences in prices of items sold in Nunavik, the Quebec City area and the three other regions contemplated under the complementary study. The results of the complementary study demonstrate that all the products compared are, on average and to varying degrees, more expensive in Nunavik than in the other regions contemplated under the study.

This dissertation examines the role of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) as a case study for the ways in which non-state actors are changing previous conceptions of sovereignty in the study of International Relations. This dissertation explores the ways in which sovereignty, as demarcated by a territorially bounded state, is becoming only one dimension of a new locus of sovereignty. Legitimate sovereignty has been transferred from the sole discretion of the state to the domain of existing non-state and emerging institutions. As an institution, the ICC has attained both Arctic domestic and international power and influence. Yet, its legitimacy is derived through an ongoing historical narrative of what it means to be 'indigenous' and 'Inuit' within international politics. The dissertation focuses on three different yet overlapping levels of analysis. Specifically, these levels are (1) the domestic-Inuit political identity construction in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska; (2) the Arctic regional-the ICC in relation to the Arctic Council and; (3) the international-UN, international legal discourse. The ICC has attained legitimacy in a changing global system by espousing a certain discourse based on a narrative of the collective history of the Inuit-the myth of the 'Arctic Inuit.' This myth, culminating with the Inuit as an Arctic indigenous transnational polity, has attained its authority and legitimacy through direct institutional ties to emerging international human rights discourse. The point is to illustrate how, in traversing all these levels of authority, the ICC has managed to make Inuit self-determination part of the very definition of sustainable development (Inuit stewardship over the Arctic); establish sustainable development as the dominant discourse of the Arctic; and ensure that sustainable development falls squarely under the broader issue of international human rights. In essence, this case study of the ICC demonstrates that, for 'the Inuit,' sovereignty is exercised not through their ability to achieve statehood or as an NGO or intergovernmental institution, but through the legitimacy of their myth-or collective history within the realm of global politics- providing one example of the constitutive relationship between non-state institutions and the making of global agendas.

This article presents, for the first time in the literature, an inventory of abandoned mining exploration sites in Nunavik, namely the sites containing materials representing a danger to the environment and human health, to lay the foundations for a priority cleanup operation. In this article, the historical context of mining exploration in Canada first provides a backdrop for the research problem. The methodology section then examines the various techniques tested during a pilot project aimed at determining the feasibility of the project at the lowest cost. The final section presents an inventory of abandoned sites and begins an initial discussion of the potential impacts associated with these sites and some of the priority actions envisioned to mitigate these impacts.

L'objectif général de la présente thèse est de fournir une analyse critique du rôle potentiel des accords de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) dans l'atteinte de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale durable. Le concept de sécurité alimentaire retenu aux fins de cette thèse est celui déterminé lors du Sommet mondial de l'alimentation, tenu à Rome en 1996, auquel nous juxtaposons le concept de développement durable. L'objectif spécifique de cette thèse est d'analyser la contribution des accords de l'OMC à la production et à la circulation marchandes des produits agricoles issus des biotechnologies modernes (PAIBM) pour assurer la disponibilité des ces produits sur les marchés, au bénéfice d'une sécurité alimentaire qui soit durable. Le choix de nous attarder au choix des PAIBM nous permet de nous interroger sur la contribution des accords de l'OMC dans leurs aspects les plus modernes. Cette analyse s'effectue à deux niveaux : 1) la contribution qui émane des relations des règles de l'OMC entre elles (cohérence interne) et 2) celle qui ressort de l'intégration de ces normes dans un environnement plus vaste qui est celui du droit international public général (cohérence externe). Notre travail nous conduit à confirmer l'hypothèse de départ selon laquelle les accords de l'OMC contiennent certaines pistes de solution pour assurer la souplesse nécessaire à une production et une circulation de PAIBM qui se fasse au profit de la sécurité alimentaire. Ces pistes de solutions sont toutefois tenues. Elles doivent être consolidées et renforcées afin d'assurer que la sécurité alimentaire que les accords de l'OMC servent soit durable, sans quoi notre hypothèse de départ pourrait être réfutée par l'analyse des nouvelles versions des accords de l'OMC issus du cycle de négociations de Doha. L'OMC doit surtout tendre vers davantage de cohérence externe. Elle doit en effet prendre en compte plus efficacement des considérations autres que commerciales, de concert avec les accords environnementaux, afin d'assurer la durabilité de sa contribution à la sécurité alimentaire. Le concept de développement durable devrait servir d'assise à cette cohérence.

De très nombreuses études concluent que les problèmes sociaux sont plus fréquents là où les formes de solidarité et d'entraide sont fortement ébranlées. Or, les données disponibles à ce jour concernant les Atikamekw nous questionnent sur la possibilité du caractère pathologique de leurs conditions de vie. Il a donc été décidé d'aller observer de près ces problèmes sociaux et l'état de leurs réseaux de sociabilité. Il a été constaté que les Atikamekw ont préservé des formes évidentes de solidarité et d'entraide. Comment se fait-il alors que des problèmes sociaux se présentent avec une telle acuité dans ces trois réserves indiennes? Les données recueillies démontrent que les communautés atikamekw contiennent deux populations distinctes : d'une part, les gens instruits, détenant un emploi et pouvant compter sur des revenus décents et, d'autre part, les gens inactifs, ayant un faible niveau de scolarité et des revenus forts modestes. Ce sont ces derniers qui présentent le plus de problèmes sociaux, en dépit du fait qu'ils participent eux aussi, mais dans une moindre mesure, aux diverses formes de partage.et d'entraide. Ainsi, l'instruction, un emploi et des revenus décents paraissent les éléments moteur d'une meilleure intégration au monde moderne et d'une plus grande participation à la vie communautaire.

Les conditions socio-économiques des aînés du Nunavik sont précaires et se caractérisent de la façon suivante : leurs revenus sont inférieurs aux moyennes québécoises et les transferts gouvernementaux représentent plus de la moitié du revenu total; les activités de chasse, de pêche, de cueillette et la vente de produits artistiques et artisanaux permettent de suppléer aux revenus, soit par la vente ou par l'approvisionnement alimentaire; plus de la moitié des logements habités par les aînés sont surpeuplés et occupés en moyenne par 5 personnes; un aîné six est sur une liste d'attente pour un logement social.

The socio-economic conditions of elders in Nunavik are unstable and may be characterized as follows: their income is lower than the Québec average and government security benefits represent more than half of their total income; hunting, fishing and gathering activities as well as the sale of art and craft products supplement their income, either through sales or the exchange of food; elders live in dwellings with, on average, five individuals; one out of every six elders is on a waiting list for social housing.

This study explores some recent trends in the economic practices of the Inuit of Nunavik (Quebec, Canada). It is based on a characterization of the monetary and non-monetary transactions made by a sample of 38 Inuit households in 1995. The analyses show that the Inuit are highly dependent on manufactured goods. The rise in income has allowed for more discretionary income; however, analyses suggest that current economic conditions place limitations on the development of individual wants and aspirations, as well as play a significant role in encouraging traditional norms of conduct. It is suggested that material conditions and values mutually reinforce one another to reduce the penetration of a consumer culture.

The formal economy of the Arctic is mainly based on large-scale exploitation of natural resources (e.g. mineral, oil and gas, and fish), most of which are exported. The service sector is well developed in many parts of the Arctic, whereas manufacturing plays a relatively minor role. Public services are often supported by transfer payments from central governments but overall, more money is flowing out of the Arctic than into the region. The large-scale exploitation of Arctic resources is important to the national economies of several Arctic countries, as well as in the global economy. This is especially true for the Russian Arctic. The size and structure of the economy differ between and within countries. The gaps between wealthy and poor regions appear everywhere but are most extreme in Russia and North America. The Arctic is likely to continue to play a role as a reservoir of resources for the rest of the world. New trends are privatization of resources and new forms of economic partnerships.

Social cohesion has emerged as a powerful hybrid concept used by academics and policy analysts. Academics use the concept to underline the social and economic failings of modernity, linking it to the decline of communal values and civic participation. Policy analysts use it to highlight the social and economic inequities caused by globalization. The desired effect of using this concept is often to influence governments to implement policies that will enhance social cohesion by reducing social and economic disparities. Despite its widespread use, however, statistical measures of social cohesion tend to overlook local, non-Western strategies of social inclusion as well as the social impact of non-Western economic systems, such as the mixed economy typical of many Aboriginal communities in North America. In this paper, we develop a model of social cohesion that addresses these omissions through the use of social indicators that measure both the behavior and perceptions of Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic with respect to the social, cultural and economic conditions of Arctic communities. We explain how and why measuring social cohesion is optimized by combining both culturally-specific and non-specific social indicators.

Inuit populations meet a large portion of their food needs by eating country food in which pollutants are concentrated. Despite the fact that they contain pollutants, the consumption of country food has many health, social, economic, and cultural benefits. A risk determination process was set up in order to help regional health authorities of Nunavik to deal with this particular issue. Based on Nunavik health authorities' objectives to encourage the region's inhabitants to change their dietary habits, and on both the risks and the benefits of eating country food, several management options were developed. The options aimed at reducing exposure to contaminants by either substituting certain foods with others that have a lower contaminant content or by store-bought foods. This article aims at assessing the potential economic impact of these risk management options before being implemented. Relevant economic data (aggregate income and monetary outlays for the purchase of food and equipment required for food production by households) were collected and identified to serve as a backdrop for the various replacement scenarios. Results show that household budgets, and the regional economy, are not significantly affected by the replacement of contaminated foods with the purchase of store-bought meat, and even less so if the solution involves replacing contaminated foods with other types of game hunted in the region. When financial support is provided by the state, the households can even gain some monetary benefits. Results show that public health authorities' recommended changes to dietary habits among the Inuit of Nunavik would not necessarily involve economic constraints for Inuit households.