National Inuit body launches three-way race for president

Three candidates are running to serve as ITK president on Aug. 16. From left: Peter Williamson, incumbent president Natan Obed and Peter Ittinuar. (HANDOUT PHOTOS)

Canada’s national organization representing Inuit will see a three-way race for its top job next month.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami announced on Monday, July 23 the three candidates confirmed to run for president.

A former executive director of the organization, veteran Inuk leader Peter Ittinuar is now a candidate for president.

Ittinuar, originally from Chesterfield Inlet, served as the first Inuk member of Parliament when he represented the riding of Nunatsiaq from 1979 to 1984.

He currently works for a negotiator with the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs.

Candidate Peter Williamson of Rankin Inlet also has a background with ITK as a policy advisor on housing issues.

He has also worked for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Government of Nunavut.

Incumbent ITK president Natan Obed, first elected to the role in September 2015, will run to serve a second mandate.

Since his election, Obed, originally from the Nunatsiavut region, has helped the organization draft and implement strategies on suicide prevention and tuberculosis treatment for the Inuit Nunangat.

He also saw the creation of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, through which he’s lobbied for better federal support for housing and Inuit culture and language promotion.

ITK’s next president will be elected Aug. 16 following the organization’s annual general meeting, which begins in Inuvik Aug. 15. ITK’s president is elected to serve a three-year term.