ITK Board Of Directors Allocates $500 Million In Federal Funding For TB Elimination, Early Learning And Childcare

Press Release

July 13, 2023

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Board of Directors met today in Ottawa. Board members allocated nearly half a billion dollars-worth of federal funding under several files and initiatives, including $16.2 million that Inuit Treaty Organizations and ITK received for Tuberculosis Elimination in the 2023 federal budget. This funding will be distributed to the four Inuit Treaty Organizations and ITK according to a regional allocation formula decided by the Board of Directors that considers regional TB realities. In recognition that current funding available to address TB in Inuit Nunangat is inadequate, ITK will continue to advocate for sufficient funding to eliminate TB in Inuit Nunangat.

The Board made a number of other significant funding allocation decisions, including:

• $473 million to the four Inuit Treaty Organizations and ITK over the next 10 years to support the goals and priorities of the Inuit Early Learning and Child Care Framework. Priorities include addressing the need for greater self-determination by exploring renewed fiscal policies, which will support flexible, integrated, long-term funding approaches that are directed by Inuit to enhance Inuit Early Learning and Child Care programs and Inuit family wellness.
• $5.6 million to continue the Inuit Climate Leadership Agenda, with funds distributed to the four Inuit Treaty Organizations, ITK and Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada to support distinctions-based climate strategies.
• $3 million from Indigenous Services Canada’s First Nations Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) for Inuit Treaty Organizations and ITK to support Inuit capacity for interacting with health data.

Board members also discussed Bill C-29, an Act to establish a National Council on Reconciliation, which is now before the Senate. This legislation is the federal response to Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action 53 to create a National Council for Reconciliation. ITK has identified concerns with the federal legislation, including its unfocused, pan-Indigenous approach to reconciliation and overly broad mandate and the fact that Inuit-specific work on reconciliation measures already happens through the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee. Directors committed Inuit Treaty Organizations to finalize amendments to improve the Council’s purpose, functions and membership. These proposed amendments, designed to ensure a more focused Council, which is responsive to Inuit reconciliation priorities, will go to the Senate for consideration in fall 2023.

ITK’s Board of Directors will meet next at their annual general meeting in Nain, Nunatsiavut, in September 2023.

IHT4