IRC responds to frustrated Inuvialuit living outside settlement area, but no change promised

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation released a letter this week, responding to concerns raised bysome Inuvialuit living outside the settlementregion, but it made no promises to make changes.

In a letter dated Tuesday, which has beenposted to the IRC's website and Facebook page, chairman Duane Smith wrote that he would like to "clarify our understanding of these issues."

Earlier this month, CBCNews reported that some Inuvialuit living outside of the regionsaid they felt disenfranchised.

This is because Inuvialuit who live outside of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) do not have the right to vote in IRC elections, and they have limited access to IRC programs and services.

In his letter, Smith wrote that the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, which was signed in 1984, is the "foundation" of governance and decision-making for the corporation.

'Limited funds'

He said the agreement states that the IRC is run by Inuvialuit community corporations, which consist of Aklavik, Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk,Sachs Harbour, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

Members of those community corporations must reside in thosecommunities.

Each community corporation elects seven directors to make up the IRC's board of 42, which makes decisions and elects a chair every three years.

"The staff at IRC work very hard with different levels of government and using the limited funds we can obtain to ensure that Inuvialuit wherever they may reside have opportunities that other Canadians enjoy," Smith's letter states in part.

All he is doing is reiterating what's in the final agreement.- Pauline Gordon

Smith wrote that it recognizes the growing population outside of the ISR, which CBC previously reported was about 2,051 Inuvialuit over the age of 18. About 2,540 live in the region.

He wrote that there are programs offered to all Inuvialuit, including the Inuvialuit Education Foundationand Inuvialuit Harvesters Assistance Trust, alongside scholarships, bursary opportunities and funeral assistance.

But some programs are "targeted specifically to the Inuvialuit Settlement Region for policy reasons that are outside the control of the IRC," he wrote. This includes programs related to health and wellness, Inuvialuktun revitalization and labour market training.

Smith wrote that the IRC "does not wish to separate or cause division amongst Inuvialuit," but it'salso "hopeful that beneficiaries in the South recognize (and recall) the high cost of living in the ISR, which is about twice the cost of living in Yellowknife, let alone further south."

CBCNews has been requesting comment from Smith since Tuesday morning, but he has not provided an interview.

'There is already a division'

For Pauline Gordon, who wrote a letter to Smith weeks ago, she said that it doesn't seem like anything is going to change.

"I was hoping that the areas that he stated in regards to governance could be discussed so that it was more inclusive," said Gordon, who lives in Fort Smith, N.W.T.

"All he is doing is reiterating what's in the final agreement, and most of us know what's in the final agreement. What we are saying is it's outdated now."

Gordon said the way the IRC is structured "doesn't meet the needs of almost 50 per cent of the Inuvialuit population."

She said she would have liked to see room for discussion for possible solutions, such as allowingInuvialuitto remain members of their community corporations, so they could vote and access some programs.

Gordon said she was hopeful she would receive a response or acknowledgement from Smith that he had received her letter, but shehasn't gotten nothing so far.

"He does say that he doesn't want to create division amongst the Inuvialuit," she said. "There is already a division."