NTI in Court with Government of Canada on Summary Judgment Motion

Nunavut Tunngavik President Cathy Towtongie announced today that legal counsel for the organization appeared in the Nunavut Court of Justice Feb. 13-14 arguing that summary judgment be given to NTI on one aspect of its implementation lawsuit against the Government of Canada. After hearing the arguments, the Court is now considering NTI’s application and is expected to release its decision in the near future.

The summary judgment application was filed in relation to the Government of Canada’s failure over the last 18 years to create a Nunavut General Monitoring Plan under Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Article 12.7.6. The application is part of NTI’s larger court case against the Crown for failure to live up to obligations under the NLCA. A summary judgment motion allows a party to seek judgment, including damages, on part of a lawsuit. A summary judgment application can be made and decided before a full trial of all the issues.

Towtongie said that the Government of Canada did not get serious in implementing its monitoring plan obligation until 2008, two years after NTI filed its lawsuit, when it finally developed a business case for a monitoring plan. Funding was not made available until 2010.

"By opposing the summary judgment motion, the Government of Canada isagain trying to delay Inuit from obtaining a fast resolution of implementation disputes with the Crown. In the run-up to our lawsuit, the Government of Canada rejected numerous NTI offers of arbitration," said Towtongie. "Fulfilling contractual obligations is what we expect of ordinary citizens and organizations in Canada. The Government of Canada has an even higher responsibility to uphold the honour of the Crown and yet it continues to act below that standard and deprive Inuit of the full benefit of promises made to us under the NLCA."