Canada’s oceans envoy meets with QIA in Iqaluit to discuss marine protection

This story was updated on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, at 5:10 p.m. ET.

Canada’s new Ocean Envoy Diana Fox Carney, spouse of Prime Minister Mark Carney, talked marine conservation and economic opportunity with Qikiqtani Inuit Association representatives during a 24-hour visit to Iqaluit this week.

“The message I hear, very strongly obviously, is that care for the ocean and the importance of preserving livelihoods and cultural approaches and conservation objectives are critical,” she said during an interview at the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium offices on Tuesday.

“And they must be balanced with effective economic engagement around ocean resources.”

Fox Carney was named to the volunteer position in September by Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson. In the role she will chair the 12th Our Ocean Conference in Halifax in May 2027.

The international invitation-only gathering will bring together governments, Indigenous leaders, scientists, industry, and non-governmental organizations to hash out strategies for ocean protection and sustainable use.

Fox Carney sought to gather information in advance of the conference this week, during her first visit to the territory.

Her conversation with QIA representatives on Monday was originally scheduled to take place outside on the shore of Koojesse Inlet until high winds moved the meeting indoors.

“This is an initial conversation,” Fox Carney said. “My understanding is that there is a lot to learn.”

She said one of the subjects she learned about during the meeting was the goal to expand preservation of the approximately 85,000-square-kilometre Pikialasorsuaq polynya, year-round open water between Baffin Island and Greenland that is home to various marine species.

Through the Sinaa agreement in 2025, QIA received a $270-million funding commitment from the federal government and other donors for the conservation efforts.

The protection strategy forms part of the federal government’s ongoing commitment to preserve 30 per cent of its marine and terrestrial areas, in accordance with an international agreement achieved at the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Fox Carney said.

When it comes to preserving the Pikialasorsuaq polynya, she said, “Greenland has not moved as far as we have.”

“An area of such great biodiversity is a priority,” she said.

To date, Canada has protected close to 18 per cent of its marine and terrestrial areas, and the federal government has committed to grow that by another three per cent in 2027, she said.

Fox Carney is working with former governor general Mary Simon, originally from Kangiqsualujjuaq, to organize meetings with Indigenous groups on the first day of the Halifax conference, a first in its history.

Although participation in the meeting is not finalized, Inuit representatives will be invited, she said.

She referred to her meetings with QIA and Simon as “the beginning of the conversation.”

“It was made very clear to me that it’s more than just preserving the resource base so that we can take resources and eat them,” she said. “Conservation is a physical and an emotional concept.”

During her time in Iqaluit, Fox Carney also met with Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, Department of Fisheries and Oceans staff and held a Liberal Party fundraiser at Aqsarniit Lounge on Monday evening.

Representatives from QIA were unavailable for comment before press time.

— With files from Lilli Akpaleeapik

Correction: This story was updated to correct the date of the Our Ocean Conference. It was also corrected to clarify Fox Carney’s view on Greenland’s work to preserve the Pikialasorsuaq polynya.