Remarks by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
on the occasion of the signing of the
Ukkusiksalik National Park Agreement

August 23, 2003
Iqaluit, Nunavut

Everyone knows I love Canada's North and it is great to be welcomed back to Nunavut - Our Land. Last fall, in Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, I announced a five-year action plan to create 10 new national parks and five new national marine conservation areas and to take strong steps to restore the health of Canada's existing parks.

This is the most ambitious plan to expand and protect national parks and national marine conservation areas in over a century. When it is fully implemented, an additional area of over 100,000 square kilometres, the size of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick combined, will be protected. In establishing Ukkusiksalik as the newest National Park of Canada, we will be protecting over 20,000 square kilometres of extraordinary beauty and great history.

Growing up in rural Quebec, I fell in love with the rugged wonders of the land. But it was really during my years as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development that I truly became aware of the dazzling, breathtaking glories of nature and of all of Canada. The coastlines, the forests, the mountains, the tundra, all bring inspiration and peace and they sustain us. It is our job and our joy as Canadians to honour and preserve our natural treasures. One of my proudest accomplishments as the Minister for Parks Canada in the 1970s was creating ten national parks in four years. In those days, creating a park seemed simple.

One time, while taking a flight from Pangnirtung to Brockton Island, we flew over an amazing fjord. I said, "Aline, I will make a park here for you." When I got back to my office, I consulted the Minister of Indian Affairs, who was myself, the Minister of Northern Affairs, who was myself, and the Minister for Parks, who was myself, and they all agreed on the matter. I took out my pen and made that park.

Today, creating a national park is a much more complex and cooperative undertaking. We work closely with Aboriginal communities. We have a deeper understanding of shared responsibilities. The idea of a national park at Wager Bay was first suggested 25 years ago. And in 1996, I promised the World Conservation Congress that Canada would create this park. It has taken time but it is worth the time to get things right.

We have worked with the Government of Nunavut and with a wide array of interested citizens and groups in Nunavut. Most importantly though, we have worked closely and negotiated with the Inuit. I am very grateful to the Kivalliq Inuit Association for making today possible. The Inuit have been stewards of Ukkusiksalik for thousands of years. The very name of the park speaks to its glorious soapstone, an integral part of Inuit heritage.

The willingness of the people of Kivalliq to share such a rare treasure with Canadians and with the world is a blessing. We will draw fully upon the wisdom of the Elders and the knowledge of the 7,000 residents of Kivalliq in managing the park. And we have reached a vital agreement that will see significant opportunities flow back to the Inuit, particularly the young Inuit of Kivalliq.

What an amazing national park we are creating: an unspoiled watershed; an inland sea; spectacular eight metre tides and a fabulous reversing waterfall; glacier-polished islands; polar bears; falcon; caribou; muskox; snow geese; golden eagles; and over 500 archaeological sites.

I want to thank the Government of Nunavut and Tongola Sandy, the President of the Kivalliq Inuit Association. So many of you, including your Member of Parliament, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, have helped us establish the new national park. Through the creation of national parks, together we have now protected over 100,000 square kilometres in Nunavut alone. It is a shared record to be proud of and one that gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction.

Our national parks are among the world's jewels. They represent the power of our natural environment and they tell the stories of our beginnings. They connect us to our past, to our future and to each other. May all Canadians learn from the Inuit and pledge ourselves to be trustees of nature forever.

Thank you et Vive le Canada.

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