“Back in early years leading up to the
court challenge on Hydro-Québec,
we didn’t have any instrument of
our own to speak for us,” Watt says.
“The NQIA was the first instrument
we created to deal with the
outside world, including
the federal and provin-
cial governments.”
The NQIA was created
“to be the voice of the
Inuit of Nunavik”, Watt
says. NQIA was made in
reaction to the 1971 announcement of
plans to build a system of hydroelec-
tric dams in northern Québec which
would “profoundly disrupt the envi-
ronment and the Indigenous
communities living in the
region, the effects of
which are still felt
today.” (The Cana-
dian Encyclopedia)
“Potential interest
from the outside
world was mount-
ing on us, so we had
“It’s a great honour
to return to Makivik
at this time.”
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Charlie Watt Sr.
Charlie Watt Sr. and Executives
22 BUSINESS ELITE CANADA | JANUARY 2019
