Makivik is well placed to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by NILCA. With more than 40 years of experience in implementing land rights, these new rights and compensations are being used wisely to improve the economic and social well-being of the Nunavik Inuit. The New Dawn Agreement was an important step in the tripartite claim process towards an agreement in principle, as it ended several important bilateral issues between the province and the Innu Nation. On May 28, 2010, amendments to the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act came into effect. These amendments include an overlapping agreement reached in November 2005 between the Labrador Inuit and the Inuit Nunavik (Quebec), who dissolved their rights to overlapping land in northern Labrador and offshore areas, alongside the Labrador of northern and northern Quebec. The tripartite IPA, lower Churchill IBA and Upper Churchill Redress Agreement were signed in Natuashish on November 18, 2011. Negotiations between Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador and Innu Nation for a definitive land claim and self-management agreement are underway. To maximize opportunities for Inuit and northern businesses in Nunavik, AANDC`s Contaminated Sites Program has undertaken project-specific activities in the region. In 2008, an environmental location assessment programme was implemented on Nottingham Island. In 2010, following an in-depth study of the Bear Island site, which includes environmental, archaeological and geotechnical assessments of sites, Biogénie, a division of deéze Enterprise, was entrusted with $8.9 million. Most of the project was completed in the fall of 2010.
During this project, Biogénie achieved an employment rate of 67% Nunavik Inuit / Eeyou Istchee Cree and a 93% Nunavik Inuit / Eeyou Istchee Cree outsourcing rate. Community consultations for this project took place in Chisasibi, Wemindji and Waskaganish, Quebec, in September 2009 and June 2010. A final presentation of these completed projects was presented to these communities in November 2010. Shortly before the agreement came into force, AANDC was also responsible for the transfer of land. Investigations were completed in early 2008 and the land was successfully transferred in subsequent years.