Archived News Releases

News Release - Manitoba

September 2, 2010

Premiers of Nunavut and Manitoba Meet on Joint Priorities



The Honourable Eva Aariak, Premier of Nunavut met this week with the Honourable Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba, in the community of Rankin Inlet, in accordance with the Manitoba-Nunavut Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation and Development (2000), which requires the Premier of Nunavut and the Premier of Manitoba to meet at least once every two years in the spirit of collaboration to advance areas of mutual interest.
 
“Nunavut and Manitoba share more than a border,” said Premier Aariak. “We share family, cultural, trade, and transportation ties, as well as six Memoranda of Understanding in areas such as energy, tourism, and community economic development. I was pleased to welcome Premier Selinger to Rankin Inlet to discuss our joint priorities, and to develop an action plan that will help us to achieve our shared goals.”
 
The meeting provided the occasion to streamline the existing MOUs by consolidating them into a single Memorandum of Understanding with one Nunavut-Manitoba steering committee, co-chaired by representatives of both Governments. This master agreement will allow for a more focused approach with practical outcomes. The steering committee will work closely on an implementation plan on the following priorities as identified by both Premiers:
 
·         Health, including opportunities for enhanced services and improved patient care through
collaboration between the Department of Health and Social Services (HSS) and the Churchill Regional Health Authority;
·         Renewable energy, including sharing best practices and technology;
·         Economic growth, through cooperation, consultation, joint tourism development and marketing projects;  
·         Transportation, through initial consultations on a cost-benefit study on a Manitoba-Nunavut all-weather road; and,
·         Exchange opportunities, in areas of culture, education, and sporting activities.
 
Premier Selinger took the opportunity to invite Premier Aariak to the Manitoba’s Arctic Gateway Summit “Northern Directions,” which will take place in Winnipeg on November 8 to 10, 2010. “Manitoba’s goal in hosting the Summit is to bring together public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to collaborate in exploring the emerging opportunities in the Arctic region,” said Premier Selinger. “I welcomed the opportunity to be in Rankin Inlet with Premier Aariak to learn more about the issues we share in common with the people of Nunavut.”
 
Manitoba’s Arctic Summit is designed to complement other Arctic initiatives, such as the federal Arctic Infrastructure Conference (September 2010 in Iqaluit) and Hudson Bay Arctic Summit (April 2011 in Iqaluit), which will explore the issues of ecological sustainability and Arctic governance.
  
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The Province of Manitoba of  distributing this release on behalf of the governments of Nunavut and Manitoba.