Ottawa, Ontario - Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, co-chaired the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee (ICPC) today in Ottawa.
Since the signing of the Inuit Nunangat Declaration in 2017, Inuit leadership and the Government of Canada have continued to work together through the ICPC towards a renewed Inuit-Crown relationship based on the recognition of rights, respect, and cooperation. The last meeting of ICPC leaders took place in May 2024 and was chaired by President Obed and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
During Friday's meeting, ICPC leaders discussed progress on a range of priority areas, including co-development of a federal policy on Inuit K-12 Education, which would support the commitments outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan. Federal Ministers also reiterated their support to work with Inuit leadership towards the creation of an Inuit Nunangat University.
Leaders acknowledged the collaboration that has taken place to ensure that an Arctic Foreign Policy reflects Inuit self-determination and positions Inuit as vital and active partners in the conduct of international relations in Inuit Nunangat.
Inuit and federal partners also discussed measures to advance a whole-of-government approach to Food Security in Inuit Nunangat, including efforts to transform Nutrition North Canada into a more data-driven program that better serves and is accountable to Inuit communities.
ICPC members committed to pursue legislative and non-legislative avenues for working together to address racism in the healthcare system, continuing work that had taken place through ICPC towards the development of federal Indigenous health legislation. Leaders also discussed the implementation of the Inuit Nunangat Policy, endorsed by the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee in 2022. In particular, they discussed developing whole-of-government approaches to ensure that all federal departments and agencies apply an Inuit Nunangat lens to the design of their policies, programs, services, and initiatives.
Inuit and federal leaders also reviewed ITK's 2025 pre-budget submission, which focuses on specific high-priority areas that align with Government of Canada commitments, policies, and initiatives.
Finally, leaders celebrated the advancement of decades of work on an upcoming federal acknowledgement and apology for the Government of Canada's role in the slaughter of sled dogs in Nunavik during the 1950s and 1960s.
Participants at Friday's meeting included:
- Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
- Duane Smith, Chair and CEO, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
- Paul Irngaut, Vice President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
- Johannes Lampe, President, Nunatsiavut
- Pita Aatami, President, Makivvik
- Lisa Qiluqqi Koperqualuk, President, Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada
- Nancy Etok, Chair, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada
- Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada
- Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs Canada
- Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services Canada
- Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
- Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence
