Ottawa renews Inuit Child First Initiative for 1 year

Ottawa will renew funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative for one more year.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced that the program will be renewed for another year at the signing of the new Nunavut Agreement Implementation Contract in Ottawa.

The announcement was greeted with applause by attendees at the event, including Natan Obed, president of national Inuit organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

The Inuit Child First Initiative provides funding for social, health and educational support to all Inuit children in Canada, similar to the supports provided to First Nations children through Jordan's Principle. All children who are recognized by an Inuit land claim organization qualify.

Funding for the program was set to run out on March 31. Local and national Inuit leaders have expressed concerns about the impact the end of the program could have on children.

Anandasangaree said he and others in Ottawa have heard those concerns.

"This is something, again, one of the very important things the prime minister is concluding as he steps down tomorrow," he told those attending the event. In addition to Obed, they included Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Jeremy Tunraluk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which represents Nunavut Inuit.

The minister declined to answer a question about whether the Inuit Child First Initiative would see changes in eligibility that are similar to those recently made to Jordan's Principle.

After the event, Anandasangaree told reporters that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau worked directly with the finance minister to secure the funding.

"We wanted to make sure there were no gaps in services," he said. "There was a lot of work to make this happen."

However, Anandasangaree said more work will need to be done to secure funding for the program beyond the one-year renewal.

In a statement after the announcement, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. thanked the federal government for extending the program.The organization also said it would like to see Inuit have a role in designing a longer-term version of the program.