The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Board of Directors approved an Inuit Nunangat Poverty Reduction Strategy at their meeting in Ottawa this week. The Strategy is a commitment of the ITK Strategic Plan and is rooted in Inuit values and driven by a shared vision to eliminate poverty across the Inuit homeland. It will be prepared for public release in the coming months.
ITK President Natan Obed talks to CBC The Current host Matt Galloway about how this money will impact northern communities
“Today’s announcement of Arviat as the location of the main campus of Inuit Nunangat University is the beginning of a long-term partnership to build an institution rooted in Inuit self-determination, culture and knowledge,” – ITK President Natan Obed
Ottawa’s new investments have eased some concerns about the future of those programs, but Inuit say they want to see more than just funding for stop-gap measures
ITK President Natan Obed is calling on Ottawa to take more leadership, with targeted funding for housing and health infrastructure, food security and poverty reduction.
“We understand that we are increasingly in the centre of a geopolitical fight that is not necessarily around our culture or our society, but is in our homeland, in our back yards,” Obed said.
“We’ve heard almost a complete absence at the global stage about Inuit, and the term ‘Inuit’ to describe Greenland’s people, or even in conversations around Canadian sovereignty,” Obed said.
ITK President Natan Obed says it’s been challenging navigating new federal leadership
“We see every day other global actors acting with more urgency to assert dominance and power over the Arctic”
This year’s Arctic Report Card confirms that the region has just logged its warmest year since 1900 – a new extreme that follows the general trend.
“Inuit continue to be hopeful that we will work towards that elimination timeline by 2030 with continued resources from our federal counterparts”
