Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared open to revisiting federal changes to funding for Indigenous youth as he began a day of meetings in Inuvik.
Speaking briefly with reporters early on Thursday morning, Carney was asked about changes to Jordan’s Principle and Inuit Child First funding – changes that have amounted to cuts in recent months.
Schools across the NWT are reported to have laid off educational assistants because Jordan’s Principle is no longer providing funding for those positions, a stance that Ottawa has said relates to whether or not the schools are on reserves.
Mark Carney with Natan Obed at a meeting of Inuit leaders on Thursday morning. Karli Zschogner for Cabin Radio
The NWT government has pushed back at this change, pointing out that most of those schools serve almost entirely Indigenous communities but the territory has only two reserves, so a reserve-based system excludes the needs of many Indigenous children in the NWT.
The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has separately said changes to the Inuit Child First Initiative – which supports Inuit youth, whereas Jordan’s Principle supports First Nations children – have resulted in cutbacks.
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For example, the IRC said this summer it was ending a grocery support program worth $500 a month to many families.
“With changes to the operations at Inuit Child First Initiative, IRC will no longer have access to funding and grocery support program will be ending permanently this August,” the IRC stated on its website.
The federal government had said it was making changes to ensure the long-term sustainability of the programs, following concern that some money was being misused. Critics said the changes appeared deaf to areas in which the money was actually making a vital difference.
Asked if he would commit to restoring Jordan’s Principle funding, Carney told reporters in Inuvik that he expected to address the issue in his Thursday meetings with Inuit leaders.
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“We’re absolutely committed to ensuring that our youth get a proper education and proper social services, and we provide funding according to that, consistent with that,” he said.
“We will be discussing today the Inuit Child First program and making sure that we can provide. One of the issues that will be addressed today – discussed today and needs to be addressed – is more stable and secure funding for the Inuit Child First program.”
The prime minister was also asked how the federal government sees the future of LNG, which is becoming a central pillar of the IRC’s economic strategy for Inuvialuit communities.
In February, the Canada Infrastructure Bank – a federal institution – gave a $100-million loan to the IRC for a compressed natural gas project that will cost around $300 million in all to launch.
The IRC is developing the previously discovered M-18 natural gas well on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula while building a gas plant south of Tuktoyaktuk.
Named the Inuvialuit Energy Security Project, the well and plant are expected by the IRC to provide more than half a century of fuel, replacing deliveries of liquefied natural gas and propane that currently arrive by truck from the south.
“We’re here in Inuvik, existing gas resources are depleting and there’s a need for replenishment,” said Carney.
From left: IRC Chair Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, Mark Carney and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed in Inuvik on July 24, 2025. Karli Zschogner for Cabin Radio
“We see for Canada a role in full partnership with the Inuit and rights-holders … tremendous opportunities in LNG.
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“Part of what we’re trying to determine is which organizations, such as the IRC, bring projects, bring ideas, bring their expertise, and then what can we do as the federal government to help facilitate that.”
Carney said any development must be “consistent with environmental standards.”
New Arctic ambassador
More broadly, the prime minister said his nation-building efforts would be a major feature of Thursday’s meetings.
Inuit leaders were expected to seek clarity on the effects of new federal legislation on their right to consultation if big new projects are approved but, at the same time, northern leaders are also trying to pursue projects of their own with federal help.
“C-5 fully respects all treaty rights, modern treaty rights and environmental assessments consistent with those treaty rights,” Carney told reporters, referring to Bill C-5, the legislation in question.
“What, at its heart, C-5 does is it makes the federal participation in any project more efficient and more effective. One of the issues that has been the case here, across Inuit Nunangat and the Northwest Territories, across Canada, is that the federal government has been a less effective partner.
“What C-5 helps us do is be a more effective partner.”
Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, opened the Inuvik meeting by noting that other priorities, like Canada’s recently released Arctic foreign policy, also require discussion.
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“There’s much work to do,” Obed said.
“We come as Inuit, understanding that the Government of Canada will always have priorities and the Inuit will always have priorities. Where we meet in the middle is where we can do the best work and implement our modern treaties, ensure that we uphold Inuit rights in this country, and then also just build a better Canada.”
The new Arctic foreign policy, published in late 2024, included a promise to create the position of an Arctic ambassador.
On Thursday, Carney said that ambassador will be Virginia Mearns, who has experience in various senior roles at the Government of Nunavut and as the senior director of Inuit relations for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
Ottawa previously said the ambassador will be “Canada’s senior Arctic official” with responsibility for advancing Canada’s polar interests, engaging with the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic and “raising awareness internationally of Indigenous rights in the Arctic context.”
Karli Zschogner contributed reporting.
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