Carney, Inuit leaders meet, agree on need for better co-operation
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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.”
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 It culminated in a call for the federal government to be a better partner and ITK’s rejection of what it called “outdated, colonial approaches to Arctic policy that repeat Canada’s past mistakes of marginalizing” Inuit.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 that since Ottawa had not committed to working with ITK on certifications for 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, noting 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 were other areas where Ottawa and Inuit could “deepen co-operation,” particularly on Arctic security and defence.
Obed has taken issue with what he 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.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.