September 24, 2020–Ottawa, Ontario
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is encouraged by commitments in yesterday’s Speech from the Throne and the national address by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau related to ongoing priorities of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee (ICPC).
- Direct work with Inuit to address food insecurity in Canada
- Expediting work to co-develop a distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategy
- Accelerating work on the National Action Plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Calls for Justice
- Continuing to close the infrastructure gap across Inuit Nunangat
- Introducing legislation before the end of 2020 to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Bringing forward a plan to exceed Canada’s 2030 climate goal
We are also optimistic that new commitments to address systemic inequities in all phases of the criminal justice system will translate into quantifiable change for Inuit.
Inuit welcome the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment to reconciliation. It remains as critical today as it was in 2015 during this government’s first Speech from the Throne, and its latest just last year.
We are in the midst of the second wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the only path to prosperity for Inuit and all Canadians is through unity and sustained coordination among political parties, federal government departments, as well as provinces and territories.
The pandemic casts a daunting shadow on the enormous work to be done. All efforts to minimize its impact on vulnerable populations form a critical part of our recovery and contribute to our greater goal of achieving social equity for Inuit.
