After the Claims – The Next Challenge is Inuit Health and Well-Being

Attending the ICC General Assemblies has always been an invigorating and inspirational experience for me. The discussions that take place promote new ideas to develop, and foster cooperation among Inuit. Many speakers over the past two days have underlined the importance of Inuit unity in the circumpolar region. I hope that we will work together and share ways to achieve this goal for the benefit of all of us.

On day two of this 11th Inuit Circumpolar Council General Assembly, I wanted to take some time to write about what I addressed in my opening remarks yesterday.

Reflecting on the past 30 years of the ICC since the first assembly, held here in Nuuk in 1980, I have seen Inuit organizations blossom over time. I have witnessed Inuit in Canada settling all of our comprehensive land claim agreements. I have witnessed the birth of the Nunavut Territory, and the Nunatsiavut Government. We have seen on the international front our fellow Inuit in Greenland advance Home Rule government. We have filled the formerly empty chairs at the ICC Assemblies with our Inuit sisters and brothers from the Chukotka region in Russia.

The Canadian delegation to the 11th ICC General Assembly in Nuuk, Greenland

One could argue that we have collectively achieved a foundation composed of these institutions and advancements to get to our next challenge. In my remarks yesterday I made a call to the ICC delegates to make a major effort to focus on Inuit health and well-being. More specifically I am concerned about the health of our children and youth.

We should now focus our energies in the next decades to improving our collective health. Look at a basic statistic- life expectancy. Inuit in Canada die 13 years younger than the average Canadian. Take a look at the numbers for infant mortality, suicide, and tuberculosis. The Inuit rates compare with developing countries, not Canada.

Inuit children in most cases cannot do well without a decent education. I am determined to improve education. We owe it to our children and future generations to improve our Inuit education system so that the dropout rate is drastically reduced. As the chair of the National Inuit Committee on Education I want to create an education environment in the Arctic where our children want to be in school, where the curriculum is culturally and linguistically relevant, where parents support our children in school, and where high achievement becomes the norm rather than the exception.