Land-use planning and participation: The case of inuit public housing (Nunavik, Canada)

This article examines the role of participation in land-use planning. It discusses a concrete example of planning, related to the construction of social housing in Nunavik, the most northerly region of Québec, Canada, inhabited mainly by Inuit. It looks at how the responsibilities of the various parties involved in the planning process have changed over the past 30 years and strives to understand the exact nature of their responsibilities at the present time. In so doing, it focuses on the role of citizens. This study shows that citizen participation plays a relatively limited role in planning, even though existing legislation makes it an integral part of the process. It helps to fulfil basic land-use planning functions, namely, an economic rationalization function and a political legitimization function. From this perspective, discourse on the democratic virtues of participatory planning is misleading.     

De Genève à San José: les normes de l'OIT et le système interaméricain de protection des droits humains

Les auteurs démontrent comment les instances interaméricaines de protection des droits humains ont utilisé les normes de l'OIT. Après avoir posé les limites de cet usage, ils l'illustrent par des exemples relatifs au droit à la liberté d'association et aux droits des peuples autochtones. Ils analysent aussi comment ces normes ont influencé la jurisprudence interaméricaine récente relativement à certains droits économiques, sociaux et culturels. Ils affirment que cette méthode de référencement croisé est souhaitable et utile: elle permet aux instances interaméricaines de fonder leur argumentaire sur l'interprétation d'autorités spécialisées, tout en renforçant la crédibilité et la légitimité normative de leurs décisions, qui gagnent en universalité.     

The Household as an Economic Unit in Arctic Aboriginal Communities,and its Measurement by Means of a Comprehensive Survey

Northern aboriginal communities are widelyrecognized as having mixed, subsistence-basedeconomies. The chief characteristic of thiseconomy, aside from the contribution ofsubsistence harvesting and related activitiesto household well-being, is that the householdoperates as a ``micro-enterprise' that is thebasic unit of production as well asconsumption. This economic form has persistedinto the present day, contrary to thepredictions of many social scientists andpolicy-makers. This paper outlines a model ofthe household in mixed, subsistence-basedeconomies, and describes its characteristicsand activities. While the discussion focuseson northern Canada, the model is thought toapply generally in the circumpolar North. Quantitative measurement of northern aboriginalhousehold characteristics and activities hasbeen limited, however, because national andregional data collection systems are notdesigned specifically to capture thesephenomena. The model is therefore basedprimarily on the results of in-depth casestudies, and the systematic measurement ofsubsistence harvesting. This paper describesthe development, for the first time, of aquestionnaire specifically designed to documentquantitatively the key characteristics of thehousehold economy as part of a comprehensivesurvey of living conditions in the circumpolarArctic.     

Social Cohesion and Living Conditions in the Canadian Arctic: From Theory to Measurement

Social cohesion has emerged as a powerfulhybrid concept used by academics and policyanalysts. Academics use the concept tounderline the social and economic failings ofmodernity, linking it to the decline ofcommunal values and civic participation. Policy analysts use it to highlight the socialand economic inequities caused byglobalization. The desired effect of usingthis concept is often to influence governmentsto implement policies that will enhance socialcohesion by reducing social and economicdisparities. Despite its widespread use,however, statistical measures of socialcohesion tend to overlook local, non-Westernstrategies of social inclusion as well as thesocial impact of non-Western economic systems,such as the mixed economy typical of manyAboriginal communities in North America. Inthis paper, we develop a model of socialcohesion that addresses these omissions throughthe use of social indicators that measure boththe behavior and perceptions of Inuit living inthe Canadian Arctic with respect to the social,cultural and economic conditions of Arcticcommunities. We explain how and why measuringsocial cohesion is optimized by combining bothculturally-specific and non-specific socialindicators.     

The Well-Being of the Canadian Arctic Inuit: The Relevant Weight of Economy in the Happiness Equations

Which of the three dimensions of Allardt’s model, “having, loving, and being”, best predicts the incidence of subjective feeling of well-being among the Canadian Arctic Inuit adults? To answer this question, two logistic regression equations have been constructed, one based on a negative assessment of well-being (feeling of despair), and the other on a positive assessment (satisfaction with life in the community). Each of them took first the form of a global model, and then of three scale models, one for each dimension of the Allardt’s model. The equations are likely to be more effective for predicting the incidence of Inuit’s feeling of satisfaction than for anticipating their feeling of despair. Furthermore, the “being” scale model is the one that will have contributed most to the predictive performance of the global model. In other words, what the Inuit “ARE” contributes more to the incidence of their satisfaction with life than what they “HAVE” or what they “LOVE”.     

The Impact of Dietary Changes Among the Inuit of Nunavik (Canada): A Socioeconomic Assessment of Possible Public Health Recommendations Dealing with Food Contamination

Inuit populations meet a large portion of their food needs by eating country food in which pollutants are concentrated. Despite the fact that they contain pollutants, the consumption of country food has many health, social, economic, and cultural benefits. A risk determination process was set up in order to help regional health authorities of Nunavik to deal with this particular issue. Based on Nunavik health authorities' objectives to encourage the region's inhabitants to change their dietary habits, and on both the risks and the benefits of eating country food, several management options were developed. The options aimed at reducing exposure to contaminants by either substituting certain foods with others that have a lower contaminant content or by store-bought foods. This article aims at assessing the potential economic impact of these risk management options before being implemented. Relevant economic data (aggregate income and monetary outlays for the purchase of food and equipment required for food production by households) were collected and identified to serve as a backdrop for the various replacement scenarios. Results show that household budgets, and the regional economy, are not significantly affected by the replacement of contaminated foods with the purchase of store-bought meat, and even less so if the solution involves replacing contaminated foods with other types of game hunted in the region. When financial support is provided by the state, the households can even gain some monetary benefits. Results show that public health authorities' recommended changes to dietary habits among the Inuit of Nunavik would not necessarily involve economic constraints for Inuit households.