Natan re-elected as Canada's Inuit group leader

#Inuit; #NatanObed; #Canada; #Greenland; #Alaska; #Inuvik, #NorthwestTerritories
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Alberta, Aug 17 (Canadian-Media): Natan Obed has been re-elected as Canada's national Inuit group leader, media reports said.
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The Inuit are reportedly a group of culturally similar indigenous people living in the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland and Alaska. 

Following voting in Inuvik, Northwest Territories on Thursday, Obed  was re-elected to lead the group for the second term.

Natan Obed/Facebook

Obed has been the Inuit leader since 2015.

"I'm honoured and humbled for your faith in me for a second term. I'll do my best to continue implementing our strategy and action plan," Obed said in his acceptance speech.

"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to hold this job."

Congratulating Obed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted,

​"Congratulations, Natan, on your re-election as President of @ITK_CanadaInuit. Looking forward to building on the work we’ve done to improve the lives of Inuit."

Justin Trudeau✔@JustinTrudeauCongratulations, Natan, on your re-election as President of @ITK_CanadaInuit. Looking forward to building on the work we’ve done to improve the lives of Inuit.

After winning in the election, Obed spoke to CBC about his priorities and said he was aware of the upcoming federal election,  and said he wanted to continue the work his organization has done with the current government and added.

"We've championed this with the federal government and with anyone else who will listen, the idea that when [it] comes to decision making, there is a specific Inuit space," he said. 

"Thirty five per cent of Canada's land mass, 50 per cent of its coastline is inhabited entirely by Inuit, managed through land-claim agreements and in many cases co-managed on things like land development and land administration.

"We need to utilize that policy space and think about solutions through that lens so some Inuit regions aren't left behind when it comes to individual funding pots or individual policy areas," said Obed.  

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)