More than 100 representatives of Manitoba and Nunavut communities and governments were in Winnipeg last week for a three-day Hudson Bay Neighbours Regional Roundtable summit co-chaired by Manitoba deputy premier and Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson and Nunavut deputy premier Monica Ell.
Manitoba participants included the mayors of Gillam and Churchill, the chiefs of Sayisi Dene and Fox Lake First Nations and also Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, Health Minister Sharon Blady and Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
Nunavut delegates included representatives of Kivalliq hamlets and the hamlet of Sanikiluaq, president of the Kivalliq Inuit Association David Ningeongan and Nunavut government ministers George Kuksuk and Paul Okalik as well as Kivalliq MLAs Alexander Sammurtok, Allan Rumboldt and Steve Mapsalak.
“This meeting follows up on key issues raised over the past two years,” said Robinson in a news release. “Delegates were updated on progress made on the working groups studying energy options for the Kivalliq region, winter roads and health.”
The working groups are co-chaired by Manitoba and Nunavut representatives.
“These projects could help build both regions and provide greater diversity of business opportunities in Northern Manitoba and Kivalliq hamlets and continue together as an economic region,” said Churchill Mayor Mike Spence.
Speakers at the conference included Jeff McEachern of OmiTRAX, which owns the Hudson Bay Railway and also the Port of Churchill, Stephen Borys of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Jim Ferguson of Green Manitoba, and Adam Fiser of the Conference Board of Canada Centre for the North, as well as John Hickes, chief negotiatior with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the organization that ensures promises made under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement are followed through on.
Presentations were also made by the Manitoba Inuit Association, Sakku Investments, Hudson Bay Consortium, Aki Energy and World Trade Centre, with discussions on climate risks for transportation and resupply challenges in the north also on the agenda.
Delegates had the chance to attend the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canadian Human Rights Museum and the Manitoba Archives during the summit. An agreement to hold a follow-up meeting in Nunavut in September was also reached. Topics discussed then will include recycling and waste management.
