Success for Inuit and Nunavut will come from bold change, not finger pointing

CBC published a widely read point-of-view piece by Sandra Inutiq on Feb. 17, titled "Dear Qallunaat (white people)." It generated a lot of discussion online. George Bohlender was one such commenter, and subsequently wrote this response.

The territory's success includes the success of my children and other Inuit in achieving their aspirations for themselves and their offspring.

I've been waiting, since the excitement and promise associated with the creation of Nunavut 20 years ago, for some signs of success, but I continue to read mostly glum and disheartening news from the territory, indicating that things have either stayed the same, socially and economically, or have gotten worse.

The same issues confronting Nunavut and Inuit at the birth of the territory continue to plague them today.

Some individuals, like the author of "Dear Qallunaat" continue to advance the timeworn trope that "white people," as a whole, are inherently racist out of self-interest and that this racism is responsible for all of the problems and barriers keeping Inuit from self-realization and self-determination today.

This notion is just as repugnant as if a "white person" were disparaging all Inuit. It is also self-defeating for Inuit: it takes away the power and responsibility from Inuit to determine their own lives and, ironically, puts it back into the very hands of the people that are supposedly responsible for taking it away from them in the first place.

Significant changes need to be made to move from 'business as usual' and a 'can't, won't' attitude to one of 'can do.'

One of the keenest realizations I have had during my life is that while we have no control over the willingness or ability of others to change, we do have control over ourselves and our ability to improve our happiness and life situation. We also have control over the way that we react to others.

This being said, the Inuit of Nunavut possess significant control over their ability to change their present and future through the power they possess on community councils, on the boards of associations and agencies, and in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

Increasing Inuit self-determination and socio-economic wellbeing, however, requires a willingness on the part of Nunavut's elected officials to significantly disrupt a status quo that has produced few benefits for Inuit to date.

Significant changes need to be made to move from "business as usual" and a "can't, won't" attitude to one of "can do."

When government advisers and experts push back about why change cannot be implemented, they should be challenged with hard questions from elected officials.

Where responses are vague, weak, or self-serving, the change agenda should be implemented and enforced regardless.

Successive governments have been using more or less the same approaches to dealing with the issues affecting Inuit in Nunavut since its establishment, and Inuit are no better off socially and economically for it.

Perhaps it's time to try a much bolder and different approach based on positivity, possibilities, and Inuit self-empowerment, rather than the divisiveness and negativity of finger-pointing and race-baiting.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read our FAQ.