“The Beginnings of Learning”: Attempting to Understand Poverty and Poverty Reduction in Nunavut

Abstract

This thesis examines Nunavut's poverty reduction strategy and the public engagement process that produced it. It begins with a brief history of the territory's poverty reduction efforts before examining the theoretical understandings of poverty and poverty reduction that guide this research. It then offers a narrative of the Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction's public engagement process, followed by an examination of the objectives that shaped its design. Next, the differing perspective on poverty and poverty reduction that exist in Nunavut are explored, as is the focus of poverty reduction efforts on healing and wellbeing. This thesis concludes by arguing that the Roundtable process has created a space to discuss the legacy of twentieth century federal policy and administration in a way that connects it directly to the roots of poverty in Nunavut.