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Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee Leaders met in Ottawa to drive progress on shared priorities for building a prosperous Inuit Nunangat

October 31, 2023

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From: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

NationTalk: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada – 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) on Monday.

Since the signing of the Inuit Nunangat Declaration in 2017, the Government of Canada and Inuit leaders have continued to meet three times annually and work together through the ICPC towards a renewed Inuit-Crown relationship based on the recognition of rights, respect, and cooperation.

Participants at Monday’s meeting included:

  • Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
  • Duane Smith, Chair and CEO, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
  • Aluki Kotierk, President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
  • Johannes Lampe, President, Nunatsiavut
  • Pita Aatami, President, Makivvik
  • Lisa Koperqualuk, President, Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada
  • Gerri Sharpe, President, 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
  • Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage
  • Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
  • Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages
  • Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

During Monday’s meeting, ICPC Leaders endorsed work plans to advance Legislative Priorities and Housing. They discussed progress on a range of priority areas, including Land Claims Implementation, Reconciliation Measures and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Health and Wellness, Homelessness, and Education, Early Learning, and Skills Development.

Quotes

“It has been a pleasure welcoming a group of new Ministers to this partnership committee to help us move forward on our path to a stronger, self-determined Inuit Nunangat. The endorsement of our work plans today is an important step forward in these efforts.”

Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

“I am honoured to have co-chaired my first ICPC meeting. A lot of progress has been made around this table in the years since it was formed, and I am committed to building on that progress to strengthen the Inuit-Crown partnership, advance Inuit self-determination, and create a more prosperous Inuit Nunangat. This is how we continue down the path of reconciliation. More to do.”

The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree
Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations

Quick facts

  • On April 21, 2022, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and President Natan Obed of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, alongside federal Cabinet ministers and the elected Inuit leadership from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Makivvik, and the Nunatsiavut Government, endorsed the historic Inuit Nunangat Policy at a meeting of the ICPC.
  • The Inuit Nunangat Policy outlines an approach for the design and renewal of all federal policies, programs, services, and initiatives that apply in Inuit Nunangat or benefit Inuit. This approach will improve coordination across Inuit Nunangat and ensure engagement with Inuit in these processes.
  • The Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee was founded on the principle that an equal partnership between Inuit and the Crown is essential to the reconciliation process.
  • The Committee meets three times a year and is chaired by the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. Once a year, the ICPC meeting is chaired by the ITK President and the Prime Minister.
  • The Committee also includes as permanent participants the presidents of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, the National Inuit Youth Council, and Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada.
  • Inuit Nunangat is the Inuit homeland in Canada. It encompasses the land, water, and ice of four treaty regions represented by the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik in Northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador.

Associated links

Contacts

For more information, media may contact:

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Patricia D’Souza, Director of Communications
Phone: 613-292-4482
Email: dsouza@itk.ca

Joanna Sivasankaran
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Phone: 819-790-1907
Email: Joanna.Sivasankaran@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca

Media Relations
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
819-934-2302
RCAANC.media.CIRNAC@sac-isc.gc.ca