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“I do see a lot of non-Inuit that have the capacity, the capability and the dollars to buy land.”

The plebiscite asks all Nunavut voters whether municipalities should have the power to release land they now hold for private sale. Most Nunavut land tenure is currently regulated by long-term leases.

Results will be calculated for each community, meaning some may choose to sell land and some may stick with the old system.

The territorial government is officially neutral, but information on its website suggests ownership could have advantages.

“Land transactions may act as a stimulant to the local economy and create a healthy real estate market,” it says.

“The ability to buy municipal land may attract new investment in the communities and increase economic development activity and job opportunities. In some communities, private investment may improve the availability of land for development and have a positive effect on the delivery and pricing of housing and commercial space.”

Private land ownership could also make mortgages easier and cheaper to obtain, said Chris Alcantara, a political scientist at Western University who has studied the issue.

“The approval process will be easier and the banks would be willing to give more money on fee-simple ownership just because it’s a more secure form of property,” he said.

Towtongie is not convinced — not least because information the territorial government has supplied on the issue dates from 1995, when the issue was considered during talks on the Nunavut Land Claim. Since then, she said, wide economic disparities have developed between different Inuit communities and between individual Inuit.