Legal Advice since 1982
Back in the day when there was a town named Frobisher Bay, in the Baffin Region of what was then the Northwest Territories, it was fairly sparse pickings for legal services. Beginning in 1986, there were two resident lawyers what is now all of the Nunavut territory. One practiced criminal law and one practiced civil law. Both of them lived in the old nursing station about 5km up the road. Events were slow but reliable. There was time to drink tea and chew your food thoroughly.
Everything began to hurry up when someone invented the fax machine, and then daily jet service, and ultimately the internet. Events and politics seem to have been hurrying up too. In 1982 when Canada patriated the Constitution and included Aboriginal Peoples, people from Nunavut were part of the change. The legal life of the community began to change to meet the challenges offered. Soon people voted to use the Inuktitut name “Iqaluit”; over many years they negotiated and then signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement; and in order to fulfill its terms, began the daunting task of creating a modern government on the rocky shore of a bay where the ocean was frozen a good eight months of the year (subject to climate change – now more like seven).
The town grew from a regional centre of 1,200 people to a territorial capital, now called the City of Iqaluit, in a region called Qikiqtaaluk, in a newly established Canadian jurisdiction called Nunavut. Many people came and contributed. Children have been born and grown up in the new city; Inuit and Qallunaaq have learned and grown into new responsibilities; from across Nunavut families have moved to Iqaluit to participate in the change and learning; and from southern cities and far away lands people have come to contribute and participate in the dream of an Inuit homeland. In 2008 they even paved the roads!
If you are looking for solid, valid and hard learned advice about working in Nunavut, with its people, communities and within its uniquely shaped legal systems, then we may be able to help. If you need a new approach to a problem, we may be able to point you in a good direction.
If you want a cup of tea, a moment to assess your perspective or a clear read on your approach, consider our services and the resources we can direct your way. We write, we plan, we talk to you and research, we have a record of delivering creative and effective advice, knowing where to take a problem for the most effective solution.
Our contact information is on the site. Maybe we can take a look at what you’re interested in.
If you are in a big hurry and already know exactly what you need, we’d be just as happy if you found someone else to file your forms in triplicate.