Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Celebrates the First Anniversary of the passing of the First Ever Inuvialuit Law – Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat

On November 24, 2021, the IRC Board of Directors passed the Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat  (“Inuvialuit Family Way of Living Law”).  IRC would like to recognize that today marks the one-year anniversary of this first ever Inuvialuit law, and further represents the growing strength, resilience and wellbeing of all Inuvialuit.

This law was designed to ensure that Inuvialuit children, youth, and families are supported wherever they live, for the benefit of Inuvialuit and Inuvialuit culture.  Further, it is designed to mitigate and prevent the harm caused to Inuvialuit children, youth, and families by non-Inuvialuit and non-Indigenous child welfare practices.

The Law establishes four key principles for Inuvialuit child wellbeing:

1. To ensure cultural continuity for each Inuvialuit Child and Youth, which is essential to wellbeing, and which includes serving each child and youth in their home community to the greatest extent possible;
2. To enhance the supports available to enable Inuvialuit Families to thrive, reducing the need for intervention;
3. To improve information sharing for fully informed service provision, advocacy, and decision-making; and
4. To grow the exercise of Inuvialuit jurisdiction in child and family services at our own pace, in our own way.

This one-year anniversary marks an important time to reflect on the long history of failure and colonialism brought about by the GNWT in their approach to Indigenous children. A 2014 report tabled by the Auditor General of Canada concluded that the GNWT’s Department of Health and Social Services and the Health and Social Services Authorities were “not adequately meeting their key responsibilities for the protection and wellbeing of children, youth, and families.”  A subsequent report in 2018 found that there continues to be “serious deficiencies in the delivery of child and family services in the [NWT]” and that “many of the services provided to children and families were worse than…in 2014.”

Maligaksat is the first of many jurisdictional instruments through which the Inuvialuit intend to recover the right and ability to govern ourselves – beginning with the protection of our children.

While the GNWT continues to practice colonial attitudes and attempt to prevent Inuvialuit from taking back control of our children, this one-year anniversary gives IRC additional and important tools to better support Inuvialuit, as we grow jurisdiction for the wellbeing of our children and take back control from the GNWT. IRC continues to enhance its ability to promote the wellbeing of Inuvialuit.

Recognizing this important anniversary, IRC has expanded the types of supports that are available to Inuvialuit across Canada. Indeed, Beneficiaries will notice increased programs and supports from IRC, wherever they live, as the programs continue to ramp up. Please review the attached one-pager or visit us at https://irc.inuvialuit.com/registry to learn more about the law and the variety of services and programs offered by IRC.

For media inquiries, please contact Alexandrea Gordon, Manager of Communications, at [email protected] or 867-678-5490.

About the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation

Established in 1984 to manage the settlement outlined in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA), Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) represents the collective interests of Inuvialuit in and beyond the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR). The IRC works to continually improve the economic, social, and cultural well-being of the Inuvialuit through the implementation of the IFA and by all other available means.

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