Yol xxYr - The Arctic Circle

104
COPE AitD FEDERAL GOVERI{4EI'iT SIGI'I AGREF}lEi,IT- IN.PRINCIPLE ON COPE CLAIM
(Sachs Harbour, 0ctober 3L, 1978) --- In an historic ceremony held today in
this far northern Inuv'ial uit conrnunity, Indian and i\orthern Affairs Min jster
J. llugh Faulkner and Sam Raddi, President of the Committee for 0riqinal
People's Entitlement (C0PE) s'ioned the Agreement-'in-Principle establishing
the basis for settlement of the COPE c'laim. The Anreenent is the first to be
reached by the governnent with a native organization north of the 60th parallel.
It'is based on a Jojnt Position Paper which was made public by the two groups
Ju'ly 14, and will provide the framework for the final agreement which'is antjcipated
in about a year's tjme.
C0PE submitted'its claim to the federal governnent on behalf of the approxinrately
2,500 Inuvialu'it (Inuit of the western Arctic) on l4ay 13, 7977. 0n
July 14, 1978, following months of intensive neqotjations, the C0PE-government
joint vrcrking group made publ ic a 106-page Joint Position Paper containjng
the elements for settlement of the COPE claim. The Inuvialuit commun'ities
have since d'iscussed and approved the Joint Paper. Similar community
consultations wjll also be carried out with regard to the Aqreenent-in-Princip1e.
The Agreement-in-Princip'le seeks to achieve a balance of interests
between the concerns and aspirations of ihe Inuvialujt and national and
territorjal concerns for the ongoing deve'lopment of energy and mineral resources
i n the vlestern Arct j c region of the liorthwes t Terri tori es .
s peci fic
nuvjaluit's
W,{
: have alreaciy sel ected that portion
m'i . ) -- over wir jch they rvil'l have
both surface and subsurface.rights. These lands, referred to in the Agreementin-PrinEip'l.e
as category Z (1) (a) (i) lanOs, comprise blocks of approximately
2075 kmz, (c. 800 sq. mi.) surrounding each of the Inuvialuit communities of
Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, Holman Island, Pau'l atuk, Inuvik and Aklavik. In
addition, the Inuvialuit w'ill be provided wjth special, and jn some cases exc'lusive,
hunting, fishing and trappinc rights throughout the western Arctic.
Significant Inuvialuit participation in a land management regime, whjch vrould
include the establishment of a land use plann'ing commission for the western
Arctic, trould give the Inuvialuit a major say in the management of land and
w'ildl ife in the western Arctic.
Diversification of the traditional economic base: other measures are des'iqned
Eir traEitional economic base. In
lue) which the Inuvial ujt rvjl I receive,
they will be assisted to develop new businesses, with specific support to be
given for individual projects. They will also have the right to neqotiate "partici
pat'ion agreements" with potential developers on category 7(1) (b) lands which,
in addit'ion to rents for the use of the surface, could also include special
arrangements such as training and employment to ensure they rvill benefit fron
subsurface devel opment.
wi I I be provi ded wi th the establ 'i shmen t of an
Program which wil I g'ive the Inuvialuit the
opportunity to develop their own solut'ions to social problems. "The signing