Inuit leaders meeting with federal cabinet ministers on Arctic foreign policy

Canadian Press-Inuit leaders met with federal cabinet ministers on Friday to iron out the final details of their submissions to Canada’s Arctic foreign policy. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly attended the latest Inuit-to-Crown partnership committee meeting. In June, Joly said Canada was readying an Arctic foreign policy to prepare for a more tense period in international relations. Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which represents Canada’s 70,000 Inuit, said the hope is that the policy will inform and help shepherd Canada’s relationship with Inuit toward international partners. “We are not a nation-state per se, but we are an essential partner of the government of Canada in its Arctic imagination,” Obed told The Canadian Press. “We are the basis for Canada’s sovereignty of the Canadian Arctic.” Obed said Inuit…

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