The institutional Representation of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut: How parliamentary discourses inform the framing of representative claims of a parliament

Nunavut is the newest territory in Canada; it was created in 1999. It is distinguished from other Canadian territories or provinces in that an indigenous people – the Inuit – represent the majority of its population. Its parliament, the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, functions through consensus, contrary to most Canadian legislatures. It presents itself as having integrated the notion of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) into its organising framework. This thesis seeks to analyse how this integration influences the institutional representation of the Legislative Assembly. To do so, it mobilises the representative claim theory advanced by Saward (2006; 2010) to discuss the role of non-elected representatives, allowing the investigation of a parliament as a representation. The context of multicultural Canada is key in understanding the context of the creation of Nunavut. Multiculturalism in Canada explains the rationale for the creation of Nunavut from a federal perspective. But, for territorial politicians, the territory is an expression of the Inuit indigeneity. This expression can be found in the Legislative Assembly’s debates where its members constantly underline the importance of Inuit traditions and customs as well as IQ. This notion is further analysed in this dissertation considering its importance not only in framing the parliament, but also in its use in debates especially concerning the environment, education, and care. On those topics, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are using IQ in efforts to promote Inuit knowledge in those policy areas. The thesis also notes a paradox, which is that there is an agreement on IQ’s importance but not on its definition. The project answers this paradox by demonstrating that IQ is a representative claim of Inuit indigeneity. The thesis uses this finding by demonstrating that MLAs are using IQ to reinforce the claim where the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut stands for the Inuit’s indigenous identity.