Minister to apologize for relocations of Inuit decades ago

OTTAWA — Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree will apologize on behalf of the federal government Thursday for its role in the Dundas Harbour relocations between 1934 and 1948.

The relocations were part of Canada’s strategy to maintain a national security presence in the Arctic. More than 50 people were removed by the federal government from their ancestral homes, leaving impacts on Inuit communities that linger to this day.

Isaac Shooyook, born in 1939 in Arctic Bay, is expected to be present to hear Anandasangaree deliver the apology at a ceremony Thursday afternoon in the hamlet where he was born, along with survivors’ descendants.

Speaking in Inuktitut, Shooyook said while he is happy the minister is coming to apologize, he’s saddened many people who were affected have since died and will be unable to hear it.

The relocations have had a big effect on his life, he said, adding people were tricked by the federal government, which told them they would only have to be in the area for two years.

“But that was clearly a lie from the federal government, and that has been painful,” he said through a translator.

Inuit were sent to the area without any support, and were not given means of transportation, he said.

“They were expected to go to a very foreign land where there is 24-hour darkness that they’re not used to, and they had to fend for themselves. They were just left behind.”

At the same time, he said, Canada was using them to assert sovereignty over the territory — something he said the federal government needs to recognize, and because of such should help with the high cost of living they now face.

In an Interview Tuesday, Anandasangaree said the federal government is setting the record straight and apologizing directly to people like Shooyook.

“It’s about the harm that was caused,” he said.

“I’m taking responsibility on behalf of the federal government and acknowledging the failures, acknowledging and apologizing for what happened.”

The Qikiqtani Truth Commission, which studied the impact of federal policies on Inuit, said the federal government moved Inuit around because it believed they could live anywhere in the Arctic.

It said Ottawa ignored unique Inuit regional identities, linguistic distinctions, food preferences and survival strategies in an effort to claim ownership over the region.

“Despite the specialization of culture within specific regions, the government transferred Inuit to areas where they had inadequate knowledge of animal patterns or environmental conditions,” a 2013 commission report says.

The Hudson’s Bay Company wanted to establish trading posts at Devon Island, where the RCMP had an abandoned post at Dundas Harbour.

The company brought Inuit there to hunt and trap in 1934 and the federal government made it responsible for their well-being.

But the commission said the relocation was a failure because it was difficult to navigate boats around the area. The Hudson’s Bay Company closed the post after two years.

Instead of returning all Inuit to their original homes as was initially promised, several were relocated again — and some were relocated four times in a dozen years.

Survivors spoke of poor living conditions, going hungry during the relocations and people dying of homesickness. The impact of the relocations continues to this day, with family members living in different areas with no connection to each other.

“Some longed for the rest of their lives for their families and ancestral lands. Tagoona Qavavouq told the commission that her mother-in-law Ajau went ‘insane’ after the relocations and died prematurely,” the commission wrote in its report.

Steve Cooper, a lawyer for the Dundas Harbour Relocation Society, said that while the apology is important, what happens when the minister stops talking will matter more.

“He needs to listen to what happened,” Cooper said, noting RCMP, Hudson’s Bay Company and government reports at the time often ignored what Inuit were facing.

“At the same time, people want their history to be validated, to be recognized,” he added.

“They were used as human flagpoles and I don’t think Canadians have any idea.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press