History of the Nunavik Landholding Corporations Association
In 1995, the representatives of all Landholding Corporations requested that a “Working Group on the Future of the Landholding Corporations” be established. It was then clear that LHCs were reaching a crossroad and that a thorough and well-structured approach was needed to examine the status and the operational capabilities of the individu
al LHCs. Landholding Corporation have a very important role to play in most Nunavik communities. They own Category I lands collectively in the name of every beneficiaries residing in a particular community. Said beneficiaries are automatically and exclusively the members of the Inuit Landholding Corporations. If used to its full potential, Landholding Corporations represent for the communities a very important tool for the development of community owned lands. As owner of Category I lands, Landholding Corporations are important players which shall work in a very close collaboration with their local municipalities as well as with regional organizations such as KRG, Makivik and Nunavik Investment Committee (“NIC”). The members, in two resolutions adopted at AGM 1996 and AGM 1997, acknowledged the importance of the work accomplished by Landholding Corporations and recommended to the Board of Directors of Makivik to allocate a special budget for the creation of such a Working Group. The Working Group received then the mandate to analyze the situation of the LHCs, to identify their problems, to suggest an action plan and subsequently the mandate to implement said action plan. The development of a training program in accounting procedures has been identified by all Landholding Corporations as their first priority. The Working Group consequently concentrated its bests efforts in seeking necessary funding for the development of a training program especially designed to meet the very particular needs and requirements of Landholding Corporations. An application has been submitted by the Working Group to Illiqvik requesting, in the name of all LHCs, financial assistance to develop, in collaboration with accounting and computer experts, a curriculum and training program meant to address the needs of Landholding Corporations into the fulfillment’s of their specific responsibilities. Through the program actually developed all LHCs shall receive on the job training to take place in their respective communities. The objective is also to establish a constant communication channel enabling LHCs to communicate upon needs between themselves and with the training team. Illiqvik replied positively to the Working Group request and allocated in November 1997 an amount of $35,000.00 for the period ending March 31, 1998. A contract has been signed with an accounting firm for the development of the curriculum. The first visits to the communities took place in the month of February 1998. Another proposal to Illiqvik will be submitted requesting additional funding for the year 1998-99.
