CBC News: With marine conservation area comes $55M for Inuit communities, PM announces
Arctic Bay and Clyde River to get small craft harbours
By: Sara Frizzell
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Iqaluit on Thursday to announce $54.8 million for Inuit in five communities on Baffin Island tied to the completion of Tallurutiup Imanga as a marine conservation area.
The money will support Inuit-led initiatives that will protect the conservation area around Lancaster Sound — the entrance to the Northwest Passage.
It will create training programs for Inuit to take on conservation and research jobs, and look at developing fisheries in or around the conservation area.
Nearly $2 million from the agreement will go to help the five communities’ hunters and trappers organizations so they can participate in conservation efforts and wildlife management.
For the president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) PJ Akeeagok, this is what’s important.
“Inuit will have the tools, such as the jobs, the training facilities to be able to do the important work of being truly the eyes and ears of Tallurutiup Imanga,” Akeeagok said.
He said the ice and plentiful marine life in the area has supported Inuit “since time immemorial,” making it the “cultural heart” of the region.