Tokenism and optics’: Inuit orgs slam feds on Nutrition North consultations – CBC
Organizations say structure of federal government’s working group is disrespectful to Inuit rights
Oct 19, 2018
All five of Canada’s major Inuit organizations have pulled out of the federal government’s Indigenous Working Group on food security, saying the government is not listening to them in its review of the Nutrition North program, CBC News has learned.
The organizations — Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Makivik Corporation, and the Nunatsiavut Government — pulled out of the working group in April.
The reason given was because the group was not a space where Nutrition North Canada officials were willing to listen to recommendations for Inuit-specific changes to the program, according to a letter sent to Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett, who at the time was also the minister of Northern Affairs. Dominic LeBlanc has since been handed that portfolio, which contains the Nutrition North file.
