Qaumariaq Inuqtaqau called the newspaper office on the evening of April 17 with a simple request: He is fed up and needed someone who was willing to listen.

The solutions to the problems he outlined, however, are complex.

Despite being an activist since 2015 and despite having a petition with 5,224 signatures that urges companies operating in Nunavut to train and employ more Inuit people SA国际影视传媒� and to make them eligible for subsidized staff housing SA国际影视传媒� he feels little has changed.

SA国际影视传媒淪ince the creation in 1999 of Nunavut, part of our rights disappeared and we lost it all. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 how we started going more into poverty, because of broken land claim agreements,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 25th anniversary was marked on April 1.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, the national poverty rate was almost nine per cent, while in Nunavut, it was almost 30 per cent.

Inuit in Canada also suffer from one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Inuqtaqau, whoSA国际影视传媒檚 from Iqaluit, said heSA国际影视传媒檚 become tired of seeing how Inuit are struggling. It made him become an activist.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 just tiring, all these shack fires. I have friends, family living in these kinds of conditions,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Being outspoken has cost Inuqtaqau a great deal. He said he lost his job and has had to move away from home just to find somewhere to live.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 just getting worse and harder in so many different ways and levels. Inuit are giving up. And the ones who are lucky, theySA国际影视传媒檙e moving down south because we cannot afford to live on our own land no more.SA国际影视传媒�

The territorySA国际影视传媒檚SA国际影视传媒� minimum wage is currently $19 an hour, the highest in Canada. If someone was working full time with that pay, theySA国际影视传媒檇 make around $3,300 per month, gross.

Rent could very easily eat up all of the after-tax income. In 2022, for example, the median rent in Iqaluit was $2,843, according to a Northern housing report.

For things to get better, Inuqtaqau said it comes down to fixing a broken land claim agreement.

SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 know how nobody can pay attention to broken land claim agreements,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭his is the outcome of whatSA国际影视传媒檚 going on over years.SA国际影视传媒�

According the agreement itself, Inuit in Nunavut have title to 352,191 square kilometres of land. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 almost 19 per cent of Nunavut.

From 2016, the difference in unemployment rate percentages between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups were highest in Nunavut at about 25 per cent, as reported by the OECD library.

Inuqtaqau said heSA国际影视传媒檚 always making phone calls and sending emails to bring more attention to these issues. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 always brainstorming,SA国际影视传媒� he said SA国际影视传媒渂ut it feels like nobody really wants to talk about these issues.SA国际影视传媒�

On his Twitter page, now known as X, he has more than 1,000 posts, many of which seem to highlight the poor living conditions people in Nunavut face.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e created a foundation for people to investigate,SA国际影视传媒� he said.