ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the Canadian rights-based approach to Aboriginal rights. It assesses what rights the Inuit have with regard to offshore development and contrast them with the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) that has been enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The chapter also assesses the offshore development strategies of Inuit from two regions: Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. In the second region, Inuit organisations have entered into partnerships with oil companies. In Nunavut, they have gone to the courts to challenge seismic testing for offshore development. These two case studies will be used to map the legal challenges and power dynamics created by Inuit land-claim settlements and offshore development projects. The land claims settlement agreements that have been signed to date offer Inuit little control over offshore development.
