For Immediate Release
(June 17, 2024 – Iqaluit, Nunavut) Last week, the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) Board of Directors met in Iqaluit, and held a strategic planning retreat in Nuuk, Greenland. Several resolutions were passed by the Board, including the approval of $1.5 million for a feasibility study for Inuktut academic schools, and a call to the Government of Canada to explore funding opportunities for Canada Post operations in Nunavut so that shipping costs are equitable for Nunavut communities.
“With the high price of food and other items necessary for daily life in Nunavut, it’s important for all parties involved to explore every possible opportunity to bring those shipping costs down,” said NTI President Aluki Kotierk. “Canada Post must work with airlines, retailers and other stakeholders to improve regulations to reduce shipping costs for daily necessities in Nunavut and to ease the financial burden on Nunavut Inuit families.”
During the strategic planning retreat in Nuuk, the board reaffirmed Niriuttaarijat priorities established in 2018, which include working with Governments to achieve full implementation of Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement; strengthen Inuktut in all aspects of life in Nunavut; working with Governments to create an education system that reflects and promotes Inuit priorities and Inuit culture; working with Governments in narrowing housing and other infrastructure gaps in Nunavut, and raising infrastructure standards in Nunavut up to national levels; and working with Governments to create Article 32 protocols to promote meaningful Inuit participation in the development of social and cultural policies and programs in Nunavut. The Board expressed that unity and collaboration among Inuit organizations is the foundation to self determination enhancing our ability to practice sovereignty in the work toward socio-economic and cultural equity between Inuit and other Canadians.
The Board also reaffirmed that NTI’s role is to protect the rights of Nunavut Inuit and expressed continued support of legal action being pursued to that end; including the lawsuit brought by two Inuit families and NTI on behalf Nunavut Inuit to have the Government of Nunavut offer the option for students to be educated in Inuktut from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
In Nuuk, the Board met with Greenland officials and visited key facilities that we do not yet have an equivalent for in Nunavut or Canada, and which Nunavut Inuit have been calling for over many years.
The board visited The Greenland National Museum and Archives, highlighting the need for an Inuit Heritage Centre, as required by the Nunavut Agreement, to be built in Nunavut as soon as possible. They also visited two classrooms in primary schools, where Kalaallisut is the first language of instruction, highlighting the possibility of Inuktut being the language of instruction in Nunavut schools. The Board toured Ilisimatusarfik University of Greenland, and Oqaasileriffik, the national language authority, which has been leading the way in Kalaallisut preservation and innovation in Greenland. Additionally, they visited the hydropower and waste management facilities, Hunter and Fishers Market and Warehouse, and an Elders long-term care facility, examples of infrastructure that, if developed in Nunavut, would dramatically improve the lives of Nunavut Inuit.
The next strategic planning meeting for NTI’s Board is planned for spring 2025, after the NTI presidential election scheduled for December 9, 2024. The new priorities will guide the work of NTI.
-30-
Media Contact:
Ivaluarjuk Merritt
Director of Communications
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
