Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, today I have the honour of paying tribute to James Eetoolook, a giant among Inuit leaders. James was a pioneer and leader in the long struggle for the creation of Nunavut.

James began his long career as a leader working as a clerk for the Hudson’s Bay in what was then Spence Bay in the Northwest Territories, or the N.W.T. He became the co-op manager and then settlement secretary of the settlement of Spence Bay, now Taloyoak, in 1975. He then became senior administrative officer when the community became one of the first hamlets in the N.W.T. in 1976. He was elected president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association in 1989 and president of Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, the predecessor to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., or NTI, in 1992.

That was the time we had to settle a dispute with the Dene over the western boundary of Nunavut. I worked with James and other Inuit leaders as we recommended mediation that led to the so‑called Parker Line. We then had to work to secure, for the second time, majority support in the N.W.T. for the boundary for our new territory. This was the second plebiscite in which Inuit leaders put everything on the line to democratically pursue our dream of Nunavut — the first being in 1982 when we managed, by high turnouts in what is now Nunavut, to secure 56.4% support for division of the Northwest Territories.

James has been a rock-solid leader of Inuit for all those years. Since that time, and as elected vice-president of NTI for 29 years, he has worked tirelessly, advocating for and supporting the rights of Inuit as a land claim negotiator. His signature is on the Nunavut Agreement of 1993, he was president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association and Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut and, for the last 29 continuous years, the vice-president of NTI. He was the driving force of Inuit-led DEW Line and environmental cleanups all across Inuit Nunangat and fought for Inuit subsistence hunting rights against animal rights groups at Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, meetings, travelling all over the world from his isolated and remote home in Taloyoak on the Central Arctic Coast. He also led successful negotiations with Canada on parks, heritage rivers and protected areas.

James Eetoolook, thank you so much for all you have done for the territory, Nunavummiut and Canada.

I am thankful for this opportunity to share with you, my dear Senate colleagues, just some of his many achievements.

Qujannamiik, James. Taima.