Following a closed-door meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Mark Carney, nearly a third of Carney’s cabinet and other Inuit leaders about the Liberals’ major projects law and other priorities, Obed said new faces can sometimes lead to new opportunities.
“I would say that we have a lot of really trustworthy people at the table, and that came through quite clearly,” he said, naming cabinet newcomers like Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand and Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Rebecca Alty as the members of Carney’s front bench responsible for the relationship between Inuit and the Crown.
Obed also said he was satisfied by Carney’s assurances that modern treaties, and the processes tied to those agreements, will be respected following the rushed passage of the Building Canada Act, which allows Ottawa to temporarily bypass certain environmental laws and regulations to fast-track “nation-building” projects like ports and pipelines.
“That is a statement that’s powerful and one that we have chosen to trust the prime minister on, and we really hope that he lives up to his word on it,” Obed said
Publication Date
July 27, 2025
