Head of Nunavik’s health agency wins human rights award

Minnie Grey, pictured here addressing the Kativik Regional Government council in 2013, was named a defender of human rights in Quebec this week. (FILE PHOTO)

Minnie Grey, head of Nunavik’s health agency, has been honoured by Quebec’s human rights commission.

As part of the organization’s 40th anniversary, the Commission des droits de la personne named Grey among 40 human rights defenders from across Quebec.

“We are proud to pay tribute to these people who, every day, take action to protect the principles set out in the Charter,” said commission president Jacques Frémont in a Dec. 7 release.

Grey, who currently serves as executive director at the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, has held a number of positions over her career in Nunavik — many of them focused on the social well-being of Nunavimmiut.

Through the 2000s, Grey served as head negotiator for Nunavik’s regional government’s final agreement, which was rejected by Nunavik voters in 2011.

She chaired the committee to address youth protection services in Nunavik and continues to work to implement recommendations from the 2007 Quebec Human Rights Commission report on Nunavik children and youth.

Grey also co-chaired a Nunavik conference on prevention and empowerment, called “Inuusitta Makitjuumigiaqarniga — Strengthening our Lives,” to find ways of re-establishing wellness, safety and social peace within the region.

She is former executive member of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Makivik Corp. and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and also a member of Makivik’s education task force, which called for sweeping changes to Nunavik’s educational system in 1995.

In 2013, Grey was inducted into the Ordre national du Québec, the province’s most prestigious honour.

She and the other winners will be honoured at a Dec. 10 ceremony in Montreal.