w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 11
T
he Law Society of Nunavut has
almost 285 active members,
but less than a half dozen speak
Inuktitut, the language of the
people. The government of Nunavut,
the vast Arctic territory stretching
from Hudson Bay to north of Green-
land, wants to change that.
So the territorial government has
selected the University of Saskatch-
ewan to set up a one-time-only, four-
year law course to be taught mainly at
Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit. The
program, still subject to final budget
approval, is scheduled to start this
coming September. Twenty-five spots
will be available to Nunavut residents.
This will not be the first attempt
to grow the Inuktitut-speaking bar. In
2001, the University of Victoria ran a
similar satellite program that produced
11 graduates. While the program was
not without its problems, many students
have gone on to significant success,
among them Qajaq Robinson, an Inuk-
titut-speaking and now Ottawa-based
lawyer recently appointed commission-
er with the federal inquiry into missing
and murdered indigenous women.
Another graduate, Madeleine Redfern,
clerked with the Supreme Court and
became the mayor of Iqaluit.
In 2010, a new partnership to
develop more homegrown lawyers
was negotiated with the University
of Ottawa. However, that plan fell
through when the territorial govern-
ment rejected a request for the $3.57
million needed to support the pro-
gram. "[I]n a time of limited resources,
our focus is on improving our school
system from kindergarten to Grade
12," Nunavut finance minister Keith
Peterson said at the time.
That was a setback in efforts to
make the Nunavut bar more inclusive
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REGIONAL
WRAP-UP
Continued on page 12
Nunavut government
pushes for Sask. law program
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