80
Arctic Yearbook 2015
Table 7: Policy Authority & Service Delivery
Canada
Inuvialuit Region
Gwich’in Region
Inuvialuit Regional Beaufort-Delta
Gwich’in
Corporation
Public Government Council
Economic Development
Employment Services
Workforce Development
Energy – Price Relief
Land and Wildlife
Land Use Planning
Co-management
Renewable resource mgmt.
Social Services
Healthcare provision
Income Support
Cultural Services
Language Revitalization
Public Health
Scholarships (education)
Children & youth services
Education (K-12)
Post-Secondary Education
Social Services
Emergency Services
Local Government
Taxation
Justice and Policing
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Tribal
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The promise of strong regional government remains for these two Canadian cases (and the Inuvialuit
have announced that they have finalized an Agreement-in-Principle on self-government; CBC 2015),
however, the eventual outcome of regional Indigenous governance will likely be more limited on
policy scope and jurisdiction. Nonetheless, in the absence of self-government, these two regions have
clearly carved out a policy space.
Regional governance without self-government
For both the Inuvialuit and the Gwich’in, regional institutional development has been highly
constrained by factors of institutional identity. For the Gwich’in, the land claims institutions developed
in 1992 were actively integrated into the Gwich’in Tribal Council, the existing Gwich’in institutions
of First Nations government recognized under the Indian Act. Upon settling the Gwich’in Land Claim,
the new institutions of governance (including the regional regulatory boards and the Gwich’in
Development Corporation, akin to the NRCs) were folded into the pre-existing institutions of First
Nations governance. The Gwich’in have moved into program delivery, building on the provisions in
their agreement for administrative governance. Today, the Gwich’in Tribal Council has departments
overseeing regional health and wellness, language and cultural services (through the Gwich’in Social
and Cultural Institute), land management, and educational scholarships, among others. However, one
Regional Governance Without Self-Government