Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik told a reporter from Nunatsiaq News that his favorite moment of the year was returning to the community of Pond Inlet to see their new school after a dismaying 1999 visit to the old, inadequate building. Nunavut residents see 2002 - their fourth year as residents of an autonomous territory - as a particularly important one. It saw the passage of a Human Rights Act in Nunavut, greater economic and social development, and conflicts with the federal government. While disagreements with Ottawa over gun ownership may yet be resolved, Okalik sees little chance in the short run of resolving the problem of revenue-sharing from natural resource extraction to Nunavut’s satisfaction. The Northwest Territories and Yukon are working toward agreements with the federal government to take a portion of tax revenues and royalties from natural resource extraction, but the minister of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has publicly stated he feels Nunavut cannot yet handle such responsibility. Okalik called the comments “very stupid,” saying the Nunavut government’s record thus far is an indication that “we can do practically anything we’re asked to do.”
