{"id":766132,"date":"2026-06-28T05:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/766132\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T05:01:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T05:01:16","slug":"obeds-arctic-security-message-has-separatist-undertones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/766132\/","title":{"rendered":"Obed\u2019s Arctic security message has separatist undertones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk of Inuit \u2018looking for other partners\u2019 an alarming twist on national unity front<\/p>\n

If Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed were a provincial premier, you might think he was toying with something akin to separatism after he mused publicly about Inuit forging new partnerships.<\/p>\n

Obed\u2019s speech at an Arctic security conference on June 19 should be cause for alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a partnership with Canada is not on the table, if we are not going to be respected partners, then should we not be looking for other partners as well to uphold our interests?\u201d Obed said during ITK\u2019s Nilliajut \u2013 Asserting Inuit Rights in Arctic Security conference<\/a> in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Looking for other partners? That sounds like ITK \u2014 the national voice for Inuit in Canada \u2014 is suggesting Inuit might leave Canada if Ottawa doesn\u2019t uphold their interests the way they want them to be upheld.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of rhetoric we expect from Quebec separatists, and that is increasingly popular in Alberta.<\/p>\n

What other partners was Obed talking about? The United States? Denmark? China? Russia? He didn\u2019t name the other partners he had in mind. And he didn\u2019t take questions from reporters.<\/p>\n

ITK\u2019s one-day conference, he said, was held to \u201creorient the conversation\u201d about casting Inuit as \u201ccentral actors\u201d in Canada\u2019s approach to Arctic security.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The past few years have seen a new focus on Arctic security and defence \u2014 the result of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s talk about Canada\u2019s and Greenland\u2019s sovereignty, worldwide demand for minerals and the opening of the Arctic to shipping.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada is our preferred partner,\u201d Obed said.<\/p>\n

But then he compared the Inuit relationship with Canada to the Canada-U.S. relationship. Until two years ago, Canadians never imagined \u201cforging paths\u201d outside of that traditional partnership. But times change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a threat,\u201d Obed said.<\/p>\n

Evaluating who Inuit partners should be is the same kind of \u201cpractical consideration\u201d the Prime Minister\u2019s Office also makes on Canadians\u2019 behalf. When a partnership isn\u2019t working, you might need to forge new ones.<\/p>\n

But whenever someone assures you what they\u2019re saying isn\u2019t a threat, it\u2019s because they know their comments are likely to be perceived as a threat.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Obed\u2019s talk comes amid national unity tension from Alberta separatism. And Quebec separatism \u2014 relatively quiet lately \u2014 is always simmering in the background.<\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has used similar rhetoric to promote her province\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support Alberta remaining in Canada,\u201d Smith said in a May 21 televised address.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I truly believe our country is so much stronger and more prosperous when we respect the rights of provinces and empower them to govern themselves with minimal federal interference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Albertans want to leave Canada because they feel their province\u2019s partnership with Canada is \u2014 to borrow Obed\u2019s phrase \u2014 not on the table.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

They say the federal government, and Canadians generally, don\u2019t respect Alberta\u2019s perspective on resource development, provincial rights and energy policies.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

Obed\u2019s suggestion that Inuit might look for other partners was an unexpected twist and a bit of a head-scratcher.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s right that Inuit leaders need to educate Canadians about the Arctic. Canadians don\u2019t understand Inuit history or their rights. And it\u2019s fair to argue that Inuit should be more deeply integrated in Canadian decision-making about Arctic security.<\/p>\n

But seeking to reorient the conversation while hinting about looking for other partners is a bizarre, dangerous strategy that is unlikely to be very productive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Talk of Inuit \u2018looking for other partners\u2019 an alarming twist on national unity front If Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-766132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}