Carney, Inuit leaders meet, agree on need for better co-operation

KUUJJUAQ — Prime Minister Mark Carney and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami leader Natan Obed agreed Tuesday there is room to improve the relationship between Ottawa and Inuit as they kicked off a meeting of the Inuit-to-Crown partnership committee.

Carney is in Kuujjuaq, Que., with six of his cabinet ministers for a meeting with Inuit leaders.

“We stand with Canada as proud Canadians. But as in any working relationship, there’s always room for improvement,” Obed said in his opening remarks.

“We feel like this is a moment in time where we do need to work together and we need to do work in a way that protects our interests in our homeland, but also Canada’s interests globally.”

“Let’s be clear, this is your homeland. You are the rightsholders,” Carney said in his opening remarks.

“And we need and will embed Inuit perspectives and knowledge in our approach, and partner with your businesses.”

The Inuit-to-Crown partnership committee brings Inuit leaders together with federal cabinet ministers three times a year. The prime minister typically attends one of the three meetings.

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, Defence Minister David McGuinty, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand joined Carney at the meeting.

Obed called the forum a “bright spot and model for nation-state diplomacy and cooperation with Indigenous peoples” and noted that no other government has a similar forum between elected officials and Indigenous peoples.

“We do not take Canada’s leadership or partnership for granted, in engaging with Inuit through ICPC, and are proud of the work we have been able to advance during the last nine years,” Obed said.

“ICPC is also an asset for Canada and for all Canadians. At a time of renewed geopolitical focus on the Arctic region, ICPC stands alone as the only bilateral mechanism coordinating work between an Arctic state and an Indigenous people within its Arctic territory.

“Inuit are the foremost experts on the Arctic. We know our lands, waters, environment and communities best.”

ITK hosted an Arctic security and sovereignty summit earlier this month. It culminated in a call for the federal government to be a better partner and ITK’s rejection of what it called “outdated, colonial approaches to Arctic policy that repeat Canada’s past mistakes of marginalizing” Inuit.

Obed told summit attendees that if the relationship with Ottawa is no longer feasible, Inuit could look for other partnerships abroad.

In an interview with The Canadian Press at the time, Obed pointed to efforts to launch the Inuit Nunangat University and said since Ottawa had not committed to working with ITK on certifications for the school’s degree program, ITK could look to foreign partners for assistance.

Carney suggested Tuesday Ottawa would work on that.

“We need to move beyond the infrastructure component,” Carney said, citing Ottawa’s $50 million contribution to the school.

“There’s issues of governance authorization as well as a durable long-term funding model.”

Other issues on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting include Arctic sovereignty, security and defence, housing and food security, the proposed Inuit university, and Inuit health and wellness.

Carney said there are other areas where Ottawa and Inuit could “deepen co-operation,” particularly on Arctic security and defence.

Obed has taken issue with what he has called Canada’s lack of “deep consultation” with Inuit before announcing defence investments and the planned Northern Operational Support Hub network of logistics centres for the Canadian Armed Forces.

“We’re taking full responsibility for our security and sovereignty in the Arctic,” Carney told the room Tuesday. “We can only do that in true partnership with you.”

Carney touted Canada’s recent move to hit the NATO defence spending target of two per cent of GDP and said that as Canada bolsters Arctic defence, Inuit communities will benefit from the increased infrastructure.

“What’s crucial, and we can only realize together, is that this creates tremendous opportunity for infrastructure in health, in broadband, in community infrastructure, wastewater, (and) beyond,” Carney said.

“And we can only develop those in tandem so that all benefit.”

Carney there are unique opportunities for partnership and procurement in Inuit Nunangat.

“It’s a different order of magnitude than it would be elsewhere in the country,” he said.

“We need to be conscious of the challenges that the scale of this type of investment can bring in terms of drawing on civilian resources, capacity for logistics, and make sure that we are scaling in a way that all benefit.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press