National Inuit Leader Mary Simon, President of ITK, Meets National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo

The two national leaders first met in July 2009, at the Council of Federations meeting in Regina Saskatchewan, which was soon after Mr. Atleo was elected National Chief. Their meeting on September 11, 2009 in Ottawa touched on key issues. The two leaders discussed the need to keep lines of communications open between their respective organizations and to be mutually supportive in areas that advance the respective interests of Inuit and First Nations at the national and international levels. They talked about the importance of ensuring that broader objectives are kept at the forefront of the planning sessions of the First Ministers Meeting and to develop an agenda that will reflect this for 2010. Both leaders and organizations are spearheading important initiatives and where there are beneficial opportunities to collaborate they both agreed to be proactive, along with Metis leadership, in order to strengthen their advocacy efforts.