ITK takes mandarins on Arctic tour

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami took a dozen federal bureaucrats representing eight federal agencies on a three-day tour of the eastern Arctic this week, hoping the officials will learn more about Canada’s Inuit communities.

The group landed in Kuujjuaq on Wednesday, where Johnny Adams, the chair of the Kativik Regional Government, talked about providing administrative services to Nunavik’s 14 northern villages.

Then they flew on to Iqaluit, where they met officials with the Nunavut government and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. They also visited the Baffin Regional Hospital and the Baffin Correctional Centre.

On Thursday, the ITK tour guides took the federal officials to Cape Dorset, where they were to meet the hamlet council, visit Inuit homes, the health centre, and the community’s famous printmaking centre.

The federal group was made up of assistant deputy ministers, policy advisors, and other senior managers from entities such as the Privy Council, Justice Canada, Health Canada, DIAND, Industry Canada, HRDC, and the CMHC.