'I'm afraid that good relationships would be reduced or duplicated.'

The Embrace Life Council is giving the Government of Nunavut's new suicide prevention strategy a cautious thumbs-up.

Lori Idlout, the council's executive director, said her organization is concerned it wasn't consulted on the formulation of the strategy and is worried government efforts would overlap with the council's.

"It's not clear to me whether there would be streamlining or not," Idlout said. "I'm afraid that good relationships with [government departments] would be reduced or duplicated."

Annirusuktugut: A Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan, released late last month, calls for more funding for community, education and community funding and wider distribution of mental health services across the territory.

The Embrace Life Council got an advance copy of Annirusuktugut, but was never consulted on its creation, Idlout said.

The document also aims to work with the Embrace Life Council, while setting up a three-person office that will, according to the government, "support interdepartmental collaboration and provide continuity in government suicide intervention efforts."

But the Embrace Life Council wants to know exactly what the GN's suicide prevention office is supposed to do and how it will avoid duplicating the council's efforts. Idlout said the government holds one of 11 positions on the council's board and that the council should have been consulted on the creation of the new, as yet unnamed office.

"It's still not clear to me how that office will improve relations between the government of Nunavut and the Embrace Life Council," Idlout said.

Despite the criticisms, Idlout welcomed the publication of Annirusuktugut. She particularly endorsed the document's stated goals of involving elders and local Hunters and Trappers organizations in the delivery of on-the-land programs that Idlout said create a "sense of positive self-identity" for young people.

"It helps to get the youth learning about their heritage and their history directly from elders," she said. "And elders are always saying they want to work more with youth."

While each item in Annirusuktugut is given a time frame – typically between one and five years – Idlout wants to know how the GN will make sure it sticks to those guidelines.

"I wouldn't see it as our function to monitor their successes or their failures."

Idlout said the Embrace Life Council's board members, representing in addition to the GN, Nunavut Tunngacik Inc., the Nunavut Association of Municipalities and others, will consult their organizations and return in the fall to issue a more detailed response to Annirusuktugut.