Inuvialuit Regional Corporation President and CEO Duane Ningaqsiq Smith says the IRC is encouraged by the recent federal election results and is hoping to build on the accomplishments between the two governments over the past decade.
Speaking to 黑料吃瓜网, Smith said newly-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney had repeatedly stated his intent to ensure Indigenous governments are engaged and respected. Smith interprets that to mean that Ottawa intends to keep working with the IRC on issues affecting the North.
"We have built up a good understanding with the past Liberal government and would hope some of the initiatives we have developed would continue," he said. "(We) look forward to a renewed relationship with this new government."
Smith said he hopes the federal government holds territorial governments to account on the programs and services they are contracted to provide, pointing out he often sees "disturbing" auditor general reports, notably involving children in custody.
He added that he's hopeful the Inuit Crown Partnership Committee (ICPC) will continue to be a line of communication between the Inuvialuit and federal governments. That committee was established in partnership among the four Canadian Inuit self-governments and the federal government to meet once a year to discuss priorities such as housing, infrastructure, child services issues, such as Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat, or the "Inuvialuit Family Way of Living Law."
Canada is still well behind in implementing all 94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and fully implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but the federal government was able to pass "An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis Children, Youth and Families," which came into force Jan. 1, 2020. The law enables Indigenous and Inuit governments to pass their own child care laws and circumvent children being absorbed into the foster care system.
Following the defeat of a Supreme Court challenge filed by Quebec, which the GNWT joined as a intervener, former prime minister Justin Trudeau attended a formal signing ceremony with Smith in Inuvik on Sept. 30, 2024.
With Arctic sovereignty on many people's minds, Smith said the ICPC and Ottawa have been key partners in major military infrastructure planning, including the expansion of the airstrip at Mike Zubko Airport in Inuvik to allow for larger aircraft at the NORAD forward-operating base in the region, as well as resource development under the Inuit Nunangat Policy.
Beyond that, Smith echoed other 黑料吃瓜网 leaders in saying the federal government should prioritize economic development, particularly creating new economic opportunities separate from the increasingly expansionist United States.
"I think the prime minister fully understands the needs of the whole country and will develop a balanced approach to address [it] to the best of the government鈥檚 abilities," said Smith. "As for the North, I think he knows there is significant attention being paid to the Arctic and in Canada鈥檚 Arctic in general, and a federal approach will be developed to begin to address the many gaps and needs that exist.
"There is so much potential."
