Natan Obed changes plan, says he wants another term as ITK president
In turbulent times, Inuit need ‘continuity,’ Obed says as he seeks fourth term
Natan Obed is running for re-election as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami despite previously saying he wouldn’t run again. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Natan Obed says he will run as a “veteran” in seeking his fourth term as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada’s national organization for Inuit, despite previously saying he wouldn’t run again.
“Part of my deliberation in making this decision was recognizing that I would be overturning my statements around the last election,” Obed said in a phone interview Thursday.
“I didn’t make this decision lightly.”
Obed, 49, announced Wednesday he will seek re-election in a Facebook post, the same day ITK opened the nomination period for its Sept. 18 presidential election.
Obed has been at the helm of the national Inuit organization for 10 years and is its longest-serving president. He won the 2015 and 2018 presidential elections, then was acclaimed when no one ran against him in 2021.
During the 2021 campaign, Obed said it would be his final term as president.
But last fall, in the “dying days of the Trudeau government,” he reconsidered that decision.
With a new federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney and international uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs threats and musings about making Canada the 51st state, Obed said Inuit would benefit from “continuity” in ITK’s leadership.
“I am one of the last Indigenous leaders that is around here in Ottawa from when I first started in 2015. There is an advantage to being a veteran and being somebody that has seen a lot in these last 10 years,” he said.
Obed said it’s unlikely he will run again in 2029, but adds that he learned his lesson not to be “definitive.”
“Considering that I hadn’t imagined that I would put my name forward for this particular election, I would find it even less likely that I would continue on after this term.”
Over the past decade, ITK co-developed “landmark” legislation like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, led the creation of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, and brought Inuit vision to the national and international stage, Obed said, adding he wants to continue the progress.
He has heard the criticism suggesting he’s seeking re-election for financial gain, but rejected that idea.
“Financial compensation has never been in the forefront for why I work for Inuit,” Obed said.
He confirmed that in 2024, his salary ranged between $300,000 and $349,000.
Presidents of ITK are not directly elected by Inuit Nunangat beneficiaries.
Instead, the head of the organization is selected in a vote among four recognized Inuit organizations: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.; Makivvik Corp., representing Inuit in Nunavik; Inuvialuit Regional Corp., of the western Arctic; and the Nunatsiavut government, the Inuit lands-claim organization for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Additionally, two delegates from each region and the vice-president of ITK cast a ballot.
Candidates must be Inuit beneficiaries over the age of 18. They can be nominated either by a designated member representative from one of the Inuit organizations or write a letter describing their leadership experience, according to the election rules.
The nomination deadline for the ITK presidential election is Aug. 28 at 5 p.m.
As in previous elections, Obed will be nominated by the Nunatsiavut government.
Its president, Johannes Lampe, is so far the only one of the four Inuit organizations’ leaders to publicly voice support for Obed in an interview.
Spokespeople for Makivvik Corp. and Inuvialuit Regional Corp. both declined comment, and a Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. representative couldn’t be reached for comment.
I think, it’s time for new president, who’s able to speak inuktut,🤔 since it’s***INUIT TAPIRIIT KANATAMI***,it would be nice to see an real inuk to be president, it was started by inuit at first anyways
He is a real inuk.
If he is an real inuk, how come we never heard him speak inuktut, to be a real inuk you would need to be able to speak inuktut,
Most Inuit in Canada are not fluent speakers. There are many prominent Inuit leaders in Nunavut that speak Inuktitut in public but did not or do not speak it to their children, and often do not speak it with other fluent speakers. It has become a largely symbolic skill or gesture. Sure it would be great if everyone spoke Inuktitut but the reality is that many choose not to or are unable due to circumstances beyond their control. How many fluent MLAs have raised their children to speak Inuktitut fluently in their day to day lives? Not many.
Hc youre not writing in inuktitut then? I guess youre not a real inuk lmao
I distinctly recall this man promised to learn Inuktitut to try to get elected and still cannot utter a word in the Inuit language. Let’s place him with one who will honour their election promise. Time for a change.
What is a real Inuk? i speak but not fluently so does that make kind of Inuk?
As a Kivalliqer I didn’t like living in Baffin because some people think you have to speak inuktitut to be inuk and they ask that soon as you meet them. Alienating place to live
Isn’t disgusting to hear other talk about language, “Oh you’re not Inuk cause you don’t speak your language”. Just goes to show how “Ignorant” (lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated) (in case you didn’t know) people really are. My grandmother was taken to residential school and lost her language as she was taken at a very young age. But now she tries to learn, but does it make her an Inuk? LMAO who speaks inuktitut….really showcases how little educated you really are. get a life losers.
Not again….
Are you Racist Much? Thats the one of the main problems within the Inuit culture, being racist towards other Inuit from different communities, towns or provinces and territories.
c’mon nunatsiaq news, an article on what his goals were and what he has achieved would be pretty slick.
No one wants to hire him?
Just won t fade away.
It’s always interesting, and often amusing, when people dress up their own interests as the interests of others.
“in the dying days of the Trudeaus government” says it all for me. I’ve always believed that his decisions were always based upon his closeness with Trudeau and not what was best for the Imuit to whom he was expected to represent.
Now that Trudeau is gone, I had better stick with this job..
Better have a talk with the people who put him in office in the first place
Thanks for your Services and Contributions.
As much as I appreciate his Services it is time to change it up as you ambition and goals are the Goals for all from all. Changing is for continues progress as advancement and real need for fresh angle as reset and “Restart” by Updating.
Mr. President you again learnt from Advanced Education and National Presence in Duty and Respeced Contributions you need a break. With Advanced Education which I support and admire with utmost respect but does not necessarily apply the experiences of the roots of growing and living including the nuances and required projections of Language intent as reason to bridge full expressions required educate Third-party at the moment.
There has to be respected and respectful boundaries with continuous do agains. It is for the betterment of The Camps to ensure best options by taking risks in Changes for the Best Interests of all including respected knowledge and Leaders that shared thier Leadership.
But as in all Seasons and Movement not all the best spoken or same Leaders lose positions by default not because of failure or non-impacts to be viewed nor entertained but always is needed back as Leadersonce again after a Season.
Excellent Opportunities as a Free Lancer Entrepreneur and have a fresh start with your known firsthand interactive frontrow experiences unseen and that can Bridge your Skills Obtained, and no one can ever take from you, and be a Help from the Outside-tne-box to change views on the Inside-the-box there is no Box.
“There is no spoon”, The Matrix
Take a Timeout for Off Season Training and come back in next Elections Season back recharged and refreshed and more reinvented with self-invesment and rest on body, emotions and mental in decompression. Come back as we need you but what’s best for now is step aside in investing in self and come back.
In the meantime let this necessary process for ITK Executive and Staff from bottom to top also resets and best is this step will bring in another required view for progress.
No Loss. No Obligations. Win-win. And National Inuit Organization at this Level will have to comply with the Risk of Change impacts in a positive way for selves as now have to reprogram by a reset inside is best for self reflections of how better thier Contributions can be better than last term. Some at all Levels of Employment may come to a decision what is best for them as well includes taking a break.
If you do come back it woild be an honour as we need you and your specific skills from experiences but as even better and focused that the work comes easier and with more integrity of self standards which you are in control of.
Natan Obed is BY FAR the most effective, hardest working National Leader that Inuit have ever had.
Obed has always seemed elitist and out of touch. Are Inuit better off in the last decade?
Let’s see someone with fresh ideas take a crack at improving the big issues facing Inuit. Housing and employment being top of mind.
Gotta give the guy props. Hes done a pretty good job securing food security, climate change, health and language money through the liberal party. If I had to guess, the next mandate will revolve around the Arctic University. Now it’s up to the regional Inuit orgs to implement the vision they’ have given him.
Who else is running?
For what good?
So we are to be submitted to another sham “election” process.
It’s an insult to our intelligence.
With a majority of the Canadian population located close to the US Canada border the Canadian Inuit regions represent a very large land mass. Inuit do not fall into the Indian act. Everything occupied by indigenous people is considered to be Crown Land from my understanding. Within these regions, I believe no one can buy land. This creates an even borrowing system; meaning we cannot put up collateral. The public services that we receive is under par. Health, non indigenous health services suck yes but not as bad as what we receive. Municipal services, none indigenous municipalities all suffer due to the financial vacuum. Large cities suck up all that funding, but the indigenous municipalities do have their own unique challenges. Education, sure it’s free and we are giving chances to administer the funds and curriculum, but the criteria put on us by each provincial or territorial government ensures that not indigenous people influence, administrative practises and our curriculum development. Although education is a provincial/territorial responsibility how can a federal representative group affect education?
Natan has worked on the university but the credit system, the system that controls who passes and who does not, that is out of federal hands. Especially the second language credits requirements. Inuttitut/ Inuktitut/ Inuktuk… it’s not an official language in the eyes of most education ministries. High school diplomas across the Inuit regions might as well be printed on toilet paper.
All this being said, the president of ITK along with other federal indigenous lobbying groups need to sit down together and figure out this problem called the Indian act. We need to find a way to govern indigenous Canada. We need to find a way to have clean, drinking water to have medical services within our communities, we need to find ways to educate our children to serve within our regions, and avoid being the labour force for Western culture.
Let Trump take the first 50km north of the boarder and all its colonists. Leave the rest of its natural resources, geopolitical relationships, and governance structure to the indigenous people.
“How can we truly self-govern, thrive, and sustain ourselves within a system that was never built for us?”
That’s a question the Canadian state still hasn’t answered—because it hasn’t listened closely enough to the people who are living it.
Inuit need ‘continuity,’ Obed says…that’s what the Inuit need. How insightful, lets sign this fella up again for another term.
There are no jobs for Natan in the real world. The only work option available is mid-level administrative position with one of the RIAs. There he could attend the office in obscurity from 9 to 5 getting a $70,000 salary – with benefits.
Why would he relinquish his current job with a $350,000 salary plus benefits, where he gets all the attention he so desperately craves
You sure sound insecure with those kind of criticism without offering to run and run with what he has done.
Talk is cheap, and in the comments here, really very cheap indeed
Premier of Alberta receives a $300,000 salary; Nova Scotia Premier, $150,000
The Premier of Nunavut makes less than this salary. Uakallangaak
No. It’s time for a new president of itk and who speaks inuktitut
how is that going to lobby government for better programming and services for Inuit, which Obed has done. Not saying we need new leadership, if we do than we need someone that can be effective in being the bridge for all Inuit organizations in Inuit Nunangat. It be a bonus if he or she could speak Inuktitut, but it shouldn’t be a disqualifier. I speak Inuktitut but not as fluent as most Inuit including my siblings, when I say things in Inuktitut and it not quite right my siblings and friends correct me without being made to feel stupid or I am not Inuk enough. We only have 70,500 Inuit in Canada, instead of putting each other down, we need to support and build each other up and be good examples for our future generation.
He should at least be committed to learning it. Bad example to set when you can earn 300k+ a year and be an Inuit representative when you’re not even doing that bare minimum.
He broke his promise to learn already and never attempted to learn our beautiful language. Inuit deserve to keep their language strong and listen to their leaders in their own language. Enough erosion on our language has been allowed to creep in already. Attii, board members time to do your part and start reversing the trend!
How Boring!
And someone who does not want to change sports club named. Unless if course it is to change the elks back to its original name.
Beneficiaries in each region should email their organizations and let them know they don’t want him. Time to move on. Look at the state of Inuit society.
The next story will be about PJ reversing his decision not to run again in the territorial election now that he’s not the heir apparent to the ITK throne anymore. Shame, we were all looking forward to him leaving the GN and taking his chaos with him.
Did you know like ITK, Inuit Regional Org’s top ppl (presidents) are earning almost 400K of better? And I had bacon sandwich for breakfast…..I think I should run for Kivalliq prez on promise that I will not be the man of multinationals nor confirm.
Why is this considered news?
The Inuit of Nunavut, or any other Inuit region, do not directly elect the President of ITK, so it is not like we need to know who wants this job or not to help us decide who we want in there.
ITK is not a level of government that governs anything or provides services to anyone, so the head of this organization has no broad level of accountability to NN readers for whatever they say and do.
What the ITK President says about Inuit, on behalf of Inuit, to government officials as our chief lobbying organization is not subject to discussion among ordinary Inuit, where the pros or cons of something are discussed before the ITK President advances the consensus view.
The only people that need to pay attention to who wants this job are the Inuit Org representatives from our regions that put this person in this role, and presumably, tell the incumbent what to say and do. And the government officials that are going to relish the presumption that this position speaks for all Inuit when they meet with him or her.
Other than that, knowing who the ITK President is, who wants the job, or whether they should have the job is about as useful and meaningful to the Inuit of Nunavut as knowing the same for a custodial position in one of our government offices.
It certainly does not have to be this way, and this position could be reformed to become something bigger and more meaningful than what the non-Inuit public seem to think it is. However, as it stands, this is the reality.
New leadership is needed, enough of N.O, worse then a liberal
He has never been to my community, I don’t know how much of an influence/action he has in our region. Honestly, he is disconnected from the Inuit community, he speaks so eloquently and does nothing tangible. Is he ‘Gift of Gab?’ kind of representative? Uncertain times, frenzied times, looking for hope here.
Lets think about bigger points. ITK has always struggled to change leadership and tp have strong reps. from all regions. ITK should continually change President and executive council members.
With the Northern regions including especially the immense Russian region, ITK Inuit Tapariit Kanataami can chart its own course, to be on speaking terms with all northern peoples. The Qallunaut greed, when you look more deeply into the fractures is the reason why there is breakdown, conflict. People who make it their business to understand these things, people such as Jeffrey Sachs and Max Blumenthal explain in detail the ins and outs. ITK need not buckle fold to any country.
Anyone can run for ITK President. It takes a few nominations and membership in one of the 4 Inuit Land Claims. Almost no one runs though! If you want the job and you’re Inuk, reach out to ITK or review their bylaws to submit your application.
Sure. Anyone can put their name forward but it’s really only four men who get to vote. It’s basically rigged in advance.
Yes anybody can run but those presidents who elect him are bought by him. It’s time he steps down, most community elders cannot communicate with him.
Why would he not run ??? The Liberals thinks he’s the chief of Inuit if not King.
Known outside Inuit Nunangat but not inside.
“elect me” ITK can do more with me’ all Inuit across Canada deserves more account and interaction! more over clear vision!
Only 13 people “vote” for national Inuit leader !
The 4 leaders chose their 2 other voters which means they are selected on the basis they will vote how they are told to “vote”.
In other words the fake election is already rigged long before the 13 come together to do the performance of an “election”.
ITK represents the 4 Inuit corporations and ITK President is the puppet of the 4 bosses.
ITK is not democratic or representative of the 50,000 Inuit in Canada.
Also, didn’t NTI just have to offer their members a hundred bucks to get them to bother to show up and vote?
Clearly, the Inuit organizations are feeling their lack of legitimacy but aren’t willing to do anything meaningful to deal with it.
Election is rigged . Those the will elect Natan have not heard the public at large. We are so sick of Natan! He’s in there for the salary , he doesn’t speak for 90% of Inuit beneficiaries.
Those the will elect Natan have not heard the public at large. We are so sick of Natan! He’s in there for the salary , he doesn’t speak for 90% of Inuit beneficiaries.
With our outgoing Premier not getting the Arctic Ambassador position I have a feeling he will not try for this ITK position, he has always talked about living in Ottawa, preferably as Senator but that position is also taken.
Our GN is in such deplorable state I would not want to see ITK being run into the ground too.
Donna ,
you are one of the uninformed people and you don’t have a clue what you are talking about, ITK got millions for every transfer of funds to land claims orgs , from the Federal Government, they took 15% for Admin .