Prime Minister Mark Carney and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami leader Natan Obed kicked off a meeting today of the Inuit-to-Crown partnership committee by agreeing there's room to improve the relationship between Ottawa and Inuit.
Carney is in Kuujjuaq, Que., with six of his cabinet ministers for a meeting with Inuit leaders.
The issues on the agenda include Arctic sovereignty, security and defence, housing and food security, the proposed Inuit university, and Inuit health and wellness.
In opening remarks, Obed said Canada and Inuit need to work together "in a way that protects" Inuit interests on their homeland.
In his own remarks, Carney said Canada will embed Inuit perspectives and knowledge in its approach to its decisions in the Arctic.
The meeting comes after tensions between Canada and Inuit were heightened earlier this month when ITK called on Ottawa to be a better partner and rejected what it called “outdated, colonial approaches to Arctic policy."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
