Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today is a very important day for the Inuvialuit people of Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region.
During the Aboriginal rights movement which originated in the 1950s, the Government of Canada had signed treaties with many Aboriginal groups, but the Inuvialuit had never entered into such an agreement. The Inuvialuit realized that if a claim was not made, they might not get a voice in deciding their future.
In 1974 they established an organization called the Committee for Original People’s Entitlement, COPE, to resolve the matter. Acting as a collective role for the Inuvialuit, COPE entered into negotiations with the Government of Canada. After 10 years, the Government of Canada and the Inuvialuit gathered on June 5, 1984, in the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to celebrate the momentous occasion. It is on the shores of the Beaufort Sea that the Inuvialuit Final Agreement was signed.
The IFA is built on the hopes and hard work of the many involved and its continued success is attributed to the ongoing dedication of the Inuvialuit. The IFA was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed north of the 60th parallel and only the second in Canada at that time. Approved by the Canadian Parliament as the Western Arctic Claims Settlement Act, it took precedence over the acts inconsistent with it. The act was also protected under the Canadian Constitution in that it cannot be changed by Parliament without the approval of the Inuvialuit.
Today marks the 28th anniversary of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. I would like to take this time to wish the Inuvialuit people of Inuvik and throughout the Beaufort-Delta region, the NWT and Canada, a great day of celebrations and a happy Inuvialuit Day. I wish them further successes and achievements with their future endeavours. Quanami, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
