Nuanced. - 262. John Main: The Premier of Nunavut

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

Nunavut Premier John Main joins to discuss Arctic sovereignty, Mark Carney, housing, healthcare, mining, devolution and northern infrastructure with host Aaron Pete. Send us Fan MailSupport the shownuancedmedia.ca

Premier, most of our audience is based in BC, Alberta and Ontario. Many have likely never visited none of it. What is daily life actually like? We don't have any road networks going between communities or to southern Canada. So that's kind of one of the biggest things that I lay out to folks who have never been here. How do I say thank you, Inanuktetuk for your time? Inna here in Ogwe, you say, mutna. Mining is nearly half the economy.

How much of that wealth actually stays in Nunavut? Not enough as staying in the territory. You look at the GDP numbers. It's impressive. We have the highest GDP per capita in the entire country. But if you come to any of our communities and you speak to people, you know, you're going to see signs of poverty and signs of food insecurity. Can Canada credibly claim Arctic sovereignty if the people living in the Arctic still face overcrowded housing, unreliable infrastructure and limited access to help. healthcare. Yeah, I mean, they could claim, they can claim what they want, but it's going to ring

hollow if communities are struggling. What are your thoughts on Prime Minister Mark Carney? Premier, thank you so much for being willing to join us today. It's an honor to have you on the show. Would you mind briefly introducing yourself for people who might not be acquainted? No, thanks for having me. Just pleased to have the opportunity to chat with you today. So, yeah, John Main, the Premier of Nurevut, also Minister of Finance. I grew up here in Al-Veyrnavut ever since I was an infant and so my parents both moved up north before I was born and Al-Vey-It's been my home since I was an infant and just I'm here at home right now I'm looking out the window so

apologize if I seem distracted but yeah I was elected in 2017 first elected to serve as a member of legislative assembly for Al-Huette North Whale Cove so I represent part of my home community of Al-Gh Viet as well as a neighboring community Whale Cove and my first four years I was a regular member which is kind of an opposition role in our government and I was re-elected in 2021 and I served as Minister of Health for four years and then recently

last year, late last year I was re-elected for a third term and appointed as Premier and so yeah, great to chat today. Tremendous. Premier, most of our audience is based in BC, Alberta and Ontario.

Many have likely never visited none of it. You govern around 41,000 people living in 25 fly-in communities across 1.9 million square kilometers. About 84% of residents are Inuit, and only about one in five lives in Ikelet. For someone who has only seen none of it on a map or heard about it in an architect sovereignty announcement, what is daily life actually like and what do southern Canadians most often misunderstand about your territory? Yeah, I think, yeah, there's a lot that I could unpack there.

But I think just maybe something that you mentioned in terms of the territory's geographical kind of standpoint and where we sit. So it's 25 communities, all of which are only can be reached either by ship in the summer, by boat, by snowmobile in the winter, or by airplane. We don't have any road networks going between communities or to southern Canada. So that's kind of one of the biggest things that I lay out to folks who have never been here is that it's a huge part of Canada's landmass, about one-fifth of Canada's landmass, about I think about a third of our coastline, if not more. And 25 communities, which are all beautiful in their own way,

They're all unique in terms of where they're situated, whether they're, most of our communities are on the sea. We have one community that's on a large lake, that's Baker Lake. And in terms of daily life, you know, there's so much beauty here in Nurevut. The wildlife that provides for us the sea, the land, Inuit culture, I think, abuse every part of life here. And as someone who's non-inuk and grew up here, parents who were settlers here, you know, I feel so grateful to call this place home. It's not without its challenges. We have a lot of challenges in terms of daily life, everything from

health care to unemployment to food insecurity. But at the same time it's such a beautiful part of Canada. And I always say to fellow Canadians, if you've never visited, you should think about it. And it's, it's really special. Absolutely. I just interviewed Premier Simpson and just, it's a humbling experience to live in a country and realize how little you know about the different territories and communities that exist and the challenges that they might experience. You were raised in Aravat and have worked in journalism, economic development, business organizations, and politics. You are now considered one of the country's leading political voices on the future of the Arctic. What pulled you in that direction?

And when did you first believe you might be able to lead none of it? Well, I mean, in terms of politics, I wanted to get involved from fairly young age, you know, high school. You know, there were some great political leaders here when I was growing up. And, you know, some of them would come into the school and speak to students. I had the opportunity to host things like all candidates debates. I was still in high school and just politics kind of just, I don't know what it was, just pulled me in. And so it was always kind of on my radar once I exited school, went to university. But in terms of being a leading voice, you know, I'm just incredibly humbled to be in this role.

I didn't anticipate taking on the role as premier. something that was an opportunity that arose late last year following our election and I was encouraged, again, just incredibly humbled to have colleagues who, you know, I really look up to and I respect for their experience, you know, encouraging me to put my name forward. And the nature of the consensus government model in Nunavut is that, you know, we're all basically elected as independence and then there's no political parties and then following territorial election premier ministers are appointed from within or from the whole and so just that support from my colleagues still to this day i'm you know very humbled and trying to meet the expectations

of my colleagues and of the territory in terms of this role and trying to be a voice for Nunavut on the national stage. We have so much need. I have so much need everywhere you look. There's need. And that's kind of what drives me in terms of wanting to make things better for my kids, for my friends' kids, for the next generation here in Nunavut.

Who shaped your perspective on? leadership. Yeah, I think a number of folks who are in political leadership as I was growing up, Nancy Karataklindel is one of, I think she's been a great role model for many of us. When I was growing up, she was our MP, member of parliament. And so just seeing her working, this would be in the 1990s, You know, the difficult decisions that she had to make, the way that she represented our growing communities with such grace and dig-dindy

really was an inspiration. And so to see her filling the role as Senator now is just, there were so many of us who were overjoyed to see her appointed as Senator because she just has that breadth, you know, broad experience, municipal, federal, and now filling that role with Senator. So looking at folks like Nancy, Senator Lindell, I should call her. You know, just so much that I have learned and, you know, continue to learn from people like her.

Before entering politics, you worked as a CBC North Reporter. What did journalism teach you about asking government's tough questions? Yeah, I think working in the media, Although it was pretty brief for me, it taught me about the importance of transparency, the importance of being available. I remember, you know, working in the media and then having difficulty, finding people to speak on a specific topic and getting so frustrated when person after person says, no, I don't want to be interviewed on that, or I'd rather not comment.

So I'd like to think that I haven't entirely lost that. And also I think just, you know, I respect the role of the media, whether it's traditional media like CBC or newspapers or, you know, newer media like podcasts. It's important for folks who are in leadership to answer the tough questions. And, you know, as much as we try to dodge around the tough questions, we, that is part of our job, we have to be accountable at the end of the day to the voters, to the media and explain why we're doing the things we're doing. And that feeds into kind of decision

making on big issues in the territory. Like, for example, we had a recent decision on the Nunavut Land Use Plan that our cabinet took. And it was contentious. It continues to be contentious. It's difficult. These things are not simple. If it was easy, it would have been done already. So, you know, I look at issues like that and being able to look at all the different decision making points and the pros and the cons and the reasons for and against. And at the end of the day, making a decision, standing by that decision and explaining to the public why you did what you did. That's just so fundamental. And, you know, the media play a role in that, of course, making sure we're not just doing whatever we want without explaining. Is there a question reporter John Main would ask Premier John Maine now? Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, I think so.

I think there'd be a lot of questions. but, you know, I think, you know, one that comes to mind is, you know, how are we dealing with the population growth in our communities? Our communities are growing rapidly in contrast to some, you know, southern jurisdictions where the populations are aging and you're seeing, you know, we are also seeing increased numbers of seniors here in Nunavut, but compared to the rest of the country, our population and our territory is very young.

And so what we're seeing is our population growth is outstripping all of our public infrastructure, whether it's housing, education, drinking water, power generation. So it's creating huge problems for the territory. And so that's one of the big questions I think that passed me would ask me now is, how are you going to keep up with the demand for public services when our communities are just rapidly expanding? And yeah, I don't know that I properly can answer it even, but it is one of the big challenges facing us as a territory. Interesting. Well, I guess we'll get into that as we talk about some of the investments coming into your region.

But has being inside government made you more sympathetic to public officials or more critical of how slowly institutions often move? Yeah, I think, you know, being in government has given me a, it's a, giving me a greater understanding for the complexity of decision-making processes. When you're on the outside, it seems pretty simple, you know, this is a problem, get money for this thing, and then fix it. you know resources and money are a big part of what we need infrastructure program services but at the same time it's not it doesn't solve everything looking at our health care system for example

the past years increased money flowing into our health care system increased staffing levels increased program allocations, but at the same time, it's delivering and making sure the services are reaching the residents. Like, it's still, there are additional challenges beyond just finding money, logistical challenges, making sure we have enough staff housing for the staff that we hire. You know, being in government, also having served in an opposition type role, it's given me a good perspective on the ins and outs of the system. But I'm still, I'm my own worst critic. You know, in terms of being more sympathetic, I, you know,

I beat myself up quite a bit because I want to see stuff done. And, yeah. How much pressure do you feel in regards to the vulnerable communities that are relying on you and your other leaders to try and push forward on some of these things there. Like as a chief myself, like many people don't understand the conversations I'm having or the strategy that I'm trying to implement. You don't get to tell all your citizens what you're working on every second of every day. And so they have to have a lot of faith in you and in people like myself to really be putting

in everything you can to bring change that's going to improve their lives. How much does that impact you? No, I feel quite a lot of pressure. You know, I like to point out that it's not all falling on me. I have an incredible group of colleagues in our cabinet who are working very hard on the important files, from housing to education, to health care, you know, power generation, drinking water, essential infrastructure, you know. So I'm, you know, I have support in terms of my cabinet colleagues.

Also in terms of the incredible staff, we have working in the government. There's a lot of folks who care deeply. But at the same time, yeah, I feel the pressure. You know, we have a housing crisis. We have mental health outcomes that are terrible in terms of issues like suicide. we have way too much food insecurity and poverty happening and so yeah the pressure is there and it doesn't really go away but at the same time i'm sure you can relate to this that's the driving force right is that's what gets you not necessarily out of bed but that's what gets you around the table and pushing for

better, pushing for more for your residents that the fact that the status quo is not working for so many folks is not lost on me and government needs to work its butt off and there are a lot of great people who are. I can attest to that on behalf of our residents and, you know, the pressure is there and one of the most frustrating things I'm finding lately is just the amount of misinformation that we're dealing with around on social media and, you know, just things that are simply not true that are floating around and kind of changing the way

people think about government and changing the way that people think about society, that's really troubling. And that's where I think media, whether it's a podcast or whether it's traditional media, you know, it is part of the solution. It is part of working towards a better future. It's this open communication and sharing truth telling.

None of it does not have political parties, as you mentioned. Candidates run as independence, and after the territorial election, the MLAs meet as the Nunavut Leadership Forum, question the candidates, and select the Premier and cast. cabinet by secret ballot. Why does that consensus government work for none of it? Yeah, I think it is working for us. We're not seeing a lot of partisan bickering.

When you come from the consensus model and then you go to a jurisdiction where there is a partisan, whether it's one of our provinces or even federally. And it's, you know, there's just this toxicity and you know red team versus orange team versus blue team and green team it's it's a real difference from what we operate within um so the consensus model is is what we've been using and it is i think working for us just in terms of the amount of dialogue that is focused on the issues and not necessarily this team versus this team. Yeah, so it's a pretty special model that we share with the North West territories. And we are held accountable as members of government.

You know, I lead a cabinet that can never exceed based on our rules. The cabinet and the premier can never have greater numbers than what are called the regular members, so the opposition role. And so we are continually, perpetually in a minority government situation. And so similar to what you see in a partisan model, when you're in a minority government, you have to work with the other side closer. So we're always working with the regular members, always working with them to find points of agreement and try to bring them along, get their support, because without their support, we can't pass a budget, we can't build capital projects, we can't get anything done. So we need each other. And it's that mutual

respect kind of foundation that we're trying to maintain under the consensus model. You mentioned transparency. Should the public know how each MLA voted for the premier? Yeah, I mean, that's something that's been discussed over the years, um, in terms of of doing it as an open vote as opposed to a secret ballot. Yeah, I could see frozen cons. The secret ballot model, I think one of the advantages to it is it makes it easier for, once the leadership forum happens, it's easier for everyone to come back together and focus on the tasks at hand as opposed to, you know, focusing or ruminating around who voted for

who. And so that is one of the advantages for the secret ballot model, but I certainly, you know, the open vote would also have some pros. I can see either side. Should none of it ever consider directly electing its premier? That's something that was looked at a couple governments ago. And there is, you know, there have been discussion paper type books at it. Right now under the consensus model, you know, I think one of the advantages is that you look at the premiers who have served, they've been from a number of different communities and not necessarily, you know,

from the single largest community. and so in terms of changing seats and changing perspectives, I think that's one of the advantages of how it works right now. If we were doing direct election of a premier, I'd be concerned around perhaps things skewing towards our largest community aqaluit. But that being said, there might be ways to mitigate that. What mandate did voters give you?

Well, in terms of the mandate I was given, it's specific to my constituency. And so looking at Al-Vey and Weil-Kov, I ran on a platform, looking at infrastructure development, looking at need for continued housing development, education to continue to be a focus along with health care. So it was a largely constituency-focused platform. that I was elected with. And then when I was put into the role of premier and given cabinet colleagues to work alongside,

one of the first tasks we did was develop a mandate. And that's something unique to the consensus model. So looking at our mandate, it's called, the government's mandate is called the Kayokti'ikta, which means let's work together, let's help each other. And so our mandate is pretty broad. we want to do a number of things focused on communities, strengthening community life, conditions for residents, but then also looking at longer-term goals,

building the territory in the longer term. So our mandate from a whole, you know, a snapshot, you know, economic development, social supports, continued focus on housing, as well as longer term infrastructure-related goals to drive the territory forward. So looking at things like energy, looking at essential infrastructure and collaborating with the federal government. So we've got a lot of work to do.

We're not yet one year into our mandate, and it's targeted for a four-year term. What is the one result your government must deliver above all others? Well, I mean, the one result, we have to move the needle on the key files. And so that's, you know, touching on housing. That's touching on economic development, food security, mental health, primary care. We have to move the needle. And we need to make a real difference in residents' lives.

And, yeah, so it's not necessarily one. file that I'm looking at. It's a number of files because we recognize for each family and each community it might be different priorities that they want to see. So yeah, you know, I wish we could just focus on one thing because that would make it a lot easier to progress. But it's, as you can understand, you know, you're looking at infrastructure, for example, are you going to invest in a school or are you going to invest in a health facility are you going to invest in you know drinking water infrastructure or you can invest in power generation these are all like key building blocks of healthy communities and that's one of the messages i keep sharing with federal colleagues is you know what we're pushing for here in nunavut these are the building blocks of a strong arctic and the secure Arctic and healthy communities, drinking water, reliable power, adequate schools, adequate health care.

You know, we're not asking for, you know, we're not asking for things that are extra. We're asking for the basics. And so that's our continued message and that will continue to be our focus. You are the first non-inuk premier of a territory created through Inuit political leadership and the Nunavut Agreement. You raised Arvilla and speak inuktuah, but familiarity does not eliminate the need for accountability. What does continually earning the trust of Inuit communities require, and apologies for missaying some of those words? Yeah, no. you know for me it's as I mentioned earlier it's just been incredibly humbling to be put into this role

as premier and it was through my colleagues I mean at first it started with the voters in my constituency who elected me to this role and then through the leadership selection process being put into this role. I am accountable to my colleagues in the government. I'm accountable to the voters, who you've pointed out, you know, our territory is 85% Inuit, and I wouldn't be in this role if it wasn't for their support. And it's support that I don't take for granted. I am pointing out that I am not inuk and so there are certain things where I do rely on Inuit to speak to when it's inappropriate for me to speak. I believe in a strong relationship between the public government that I'm leading

which was established through the Nunavut Agreement, a strong relationship between our public government and Inuit organizations in the territory. So whether it's Nunavut-Tungavik or the regional Inuit associations, there's a lot that we can get done together between our public government and the Inuit organizations. And so, yeah, I think the way to answer that question

is I don't take it for granted the support that I've been given and I recognize that Nunevod is the Inuit homeland, recognize that my parents and my family are settlers here, and, you know, continually looking for ways to uphold the trust that's been placed in me and to meet the expectations, which are high. So, yeah, I hope, and in terms of being able to speak, Eukytoot, you know, it's been an incredible gift that was given to me by a community of

Alaviet and colleagues and folks I grew up with. It's opened a lot of doors for me. I fully recognize that. And, you know, it's one of the things that our government wants to do is look for ways to strengthen the use of Inuktitut, strengthen Inuit culture within government and in the territory. So, but, you know, one final thing on this may be,

you know, the Article 4 of the Nunavut Agreement established that it would be a public government. And so it's through that article where non-Inuit such as myself are able to serve in leadership roles. May I ask, what do you find fascinating about the language? Inuktitut. It's a beautiful language. It's, you know, there's many things that are fascinating about it. Some words, the way that the words are structure,

if you look at the root of certain words, it's quite, I don't know. I'm not a linguist. I'm not, you know, the best person to speak about it's very elaborate and very eloquent in the way that words are structured and phrases are structured. And also just having the privilege to travel around different dialects, different words, different terms for things are very continually interesting. and I'm always being corrected on the way I say things or learning on the fly. And so, you know, if there's one thing I'll tell you, I'll make a lot of mistakes when I speak and up to you. And I'm so grateful for people who correct me or who give me new terms to use when they notice that I'm repeating the same words over and over. I think one of my favorite parts

just hearing you and your team communicate with each other is it's a very gentle language Hmm Yeah Yeah it's very I'd agree with that And depending

Like I just hear German And it sounds very rough And like a much harder language Than what I heard you guys saying Yeah And depending You know Like I mentioned

Different parts of Nunavut or Inuei Nunungut, where people speak in different ways, we tend to like to hear other dialects spoken. Like they sound very exotic or very out of the ordinary and super interesting. Shortly after your first election, you told Mount Allison University that Nunavut's three central challenges were better health care, employment opportunities, and education and training. You said they were interconnected.

Education leads to employment. Employment improves health, and healthy people are better able to participate in education and work. After eight years and after your own term as health minister, which of those three have materially improved and which do you acknowledge needs much more work? Yeah, I think, you know, we've seen improvement. on all fronts.

I think over the years, the government has made expansions to services, expansions to infrastructure. But again, it comes back to that key challenge around population growth that I was mentioning and just the rapid pace with which our communities are expanding and also the challenges that we're facing expanding as well.

So, you know, when it comes to health care, things are still extremely challenging, whether it's staffing or infrastructure related. The real challenges are there. They continue to impact residents. But we've seen expansions and things like in territory elder care capacity. We've seen expansions in terms of cancer screening. We now have our first, you know, formalized cancer screening program and hope to see that expand into other types. of cancer in the future.

In terms of education, the number of graduates continues to increase. The number of students attending school after high school continues to increase. We just put major resources behind an expansion to our student funding model. So we now have one of the most generous student funding models in the country, I believe, in terms of the supports that we provide to post-secondary students. Economic development, there's still a lot of room to expand access to employment for Nurnville residents. We have it played a, I don't want to say terrible,

but quite a troubling reliance on imported labor, whether it's in traditional industries like construction and accommodations or hotels or even in mining and fisheries. So a lot of room for us to expand. And they are all interconnected, as you mentioned, you know, the healthcare, economic development, education. So I have to continually tell myself, you know,

if we are able to make an improvement on education, it is going to bleed into better health outcomes. it's going to lead to better economic outcomes. So the problems are connected, but then the solutions are connected too. Your latest budget raises health spending to more than $663 million, an increase of approximately 14%. The federal agreement also included $74.1 million for federal infrastructure over three years. Yet many residents still have to leave their home communities,

and sometimes Nunavut entirely. What medical services should a Nunavut resident reason? expect to receive close to home by the end of your turn. Yeah, in terms of the care that can be provided at home or in their home community, it really varies. You know, we have the most limited capacity in our smallest communities, and that's just due to the sides of our health infrastructure as well as the health staffing complement in our smallest communities.

So it can vary. in terms of what neurovo residents can expect closer to home by the end of our government. You know, I think we want to see the continued expansion of virtual care, which has been incredible since COVID pandemic, just the number of different specialities that we can provide in residents' home communities. We have something like close to 40 areas of specialty medicine that we can now provide. virtually to a certain extent, and we're equipped for virtual care right across our communities, right across the 25 communities. I think one of the biggest goals in terms of health care that we have

is just greater access, greater predictability in terms of that access to a primary health care provider. We had terrible staffing shortages following COVID, which led to reductions. in our service offerings across the territory. We've kind of turned the corner in terms of our staffing. Things are looking up. And so, you know, being able to have that baseline, foundational access to primary care is huge, as well as making sure that we're continuing to invest in prevention

in terms of public health. Things like vaccines, things like screening for chronic diseases, support for chronic diseases, those will be huge in the coming years. And one other area that I want to, or two other areas that we are working on quite hard, is support for expectant mothers and their infants. You know, that's something that has been an area needing attention for a number of years. We're looking to reestablish birthing services and, you know, more communities.

It's a longer-term project, but it's one that we're committed to. And then one final issue I mentioned earlier was elder care and looking for ways to provide more support for elders in their home communities, whether it's through things like accessible transport vans or through expanded long-term care bed capacity. More than 60% Nunavilla rely on public housing. Recent reporting placed the public housing wait list at approximately 3,700

applicants, while roughly 45% of residents in public housing were living in overcrowded conditions. The Auditor General found weaknesses in how housing condition allocation and progress were being managed. Nunavut 3,000 promises 3,000 additional units

across the housing continuum by 2030. Is Nunavut 3,000 still a credible target? Yeah, our government is still committed to the Nunavut 3,000 plan. You know, it's worth noting that under that plan, you know, not all the work has to be done by the Newhouseing Corporation. There's components or elements of that plan where they'd be working with supported housing developers, be working with the private housing developers, be working with the private sector. So there is still a big burden or a big duty in terms of the public housing

component that falls to the Nervote Housing Corporation, but there's also things like supports for homeowners, supports for the private sector. So there's no question that housing remains a key challenge. It's a key file that impacts so many parts of life up here. And, you know, the crux of it a large part of it is due to our rapid population growth and things like poverty, things like the need for greater economic development and education, so that folks can be more self-sufficient. And, you know, the Nunavut Housing Corp continues to work hard on implementing the Nurnvote 3,000 plan. And we are seeing units being completed across,

the territory. The Auditor General's, you know, recommendations were valuable. Housing Corps responded to those and are making changes in accordance with those recommendations. So, you know, it's full steam ahead on housing and recognizing it's one of those key files like I think anywhere across the country, it's a huge topic right now and understandably so. Government actively represents approximately 28% of none of its economy, while mining represents nearly half. Of roughly a $3.5 billion in forecast territorial revenue, approximately $2.47 billion comes from federal transfers. Does none of it currently have a diversified economy, or does it essentially rest on two pillars, federal, spending, and resource extraction? Yeah, there's no question that we're huge.

dependent on federal transfers hugely. And we recognize that that's a, you know, looking at it from a finance perspective, it's a weakness of how our government operates. So we want to diversify our strength in our revenue streams that are not federally oriented. That's a thing that will take a long time. Looking at like our devolution agreement, for example,

there is a potential there for increased revenue. to come to the territory through royalties if there should be mining development or other development on crown land but like I said that's going to take a long time and so for the short term medium term we are going to remain hugely dependent on federal funding sources to fund public services for a residence but at the end of the day we're young you know and and we need that support. We feel that, you know, other parts of the country were provided similar supports when they were, you know, young as we are. Our government's only been around since 1999.

There's still a huge amount of foundational infrastructure investment that needs to flow to bring us up to par with the rest of the country. and so as much as we recognize that yes, reliance on this federal funding source is a vulnerability for us, we feel that it's a just and a justifiable situation for us, given that we're not yet on par with the rest of the country in terms of foundational infrastructure. Mining is nearly half the economy. How much of that wealth actually stays in none of it? Not enough. Not enough is staying in the territory. You look at the GDP numbers. It's impressive. We have the highest GDP per capita in the entire country. But if you come to any of our communities

and you speak to people, you know, you're going to see signs of poverty and signs of food insecurity. and so that points to sit in the direction of needing to extract more benefit from the mining industry from other industries like fisheries. We need to make sure that employment opportunities are being maximized and that we as government are helping to pair up our labor force or ready our labor force for employment in these key sectors. And so, you know, it's not necessarily government sits on the sidelines and criticizes and points a finger. You know, I envision our government being a partner, active partner in getting more employment, more opportunities for residents in our rapidly growing communities. We need those jobs.

We need those jobs for our families. and my hope is that in coming years we're going to see reduced reliance on fly-in, fly-out labor. What are your thoughts on Prime Minister Mark Carney? I think it's exciting to have a Prime Minister who's raised in the North for parts of his youth. And the focus on the North is apparent, not just from the Prime Minister, but also from his cabinet. I don't know that we've ever had this much northern representation in terms of a federal cabinet. And in terms of the challenges facing the country, facing Nunavut, whether it's around Arctic security and sovereignty and threats to, you know, Canada's claim to the north, or, you know, the very real economic challenges that we're facing, I think he's, you know, the prime minister's the world. man for this moment. And when we look at things like threats of tariffs from south of the border,

we just came out of a meeting of Canada's premiers. We met with the prime minister and I can say that we're fully united behind our prime minister and support his leadership in these challenging times. It's stressful, concerning for a lot of us right across the country. And it's times like, it's times like this that, you know, leadership is tested. It's not an easy role. There's a lot of burden that rests on the Prime Minister's shoulders, I'm sure. And we're fully premieres, I for one, I'm fully behind him in terms of wanting to stand up for Canada and make sure that we get through these challenges together and stronger.

Are you able to share some insights on some of the nation building projects that may be coming to your territory, including the Graze Bay Road and port, the hydrofiber link, and this deep sea port? Yeah, I think it's quite a remarkable time where, you know, in terms of these nation building projects, the first off, that they're being led by Inuit. Inuit development corporations or Inuit-owned interests. And that's a change from previous, you know, if we look maybe a couple decades ago, these would have been projects that would have been put forward by the territorial government. And in the past, the territorial government's tried. And we still do have projects that would be considered major in terms of the scope. But looking at the Kivadlach Hydrofiberlink, the Echaluit Hydro Electric project, or the Graze Bay project,

you know, they're all being led by private Inuit controlled interests. And as a public government, we're actively supporting these projects and actively engaging with the proponents, recognizing that it can't just be them on their own who are going to get these projects over the finish line. there's a role for the Nurnable government to play. There's a role for the private sector. There's a role for the federal government. So it's exciting times. It's part of the foundational infrastructure that we need

is potentially through these major projects to drive the territory forward in the future. No connections to southern Canada. No power lines going to southern Canada. No fiber optic connection to southern Canada. No roads, no railroads. So in terms of trying to build an economy or trying to build the future of the territory, we do need this nation building investment.

Supporters argue they could lower energy costs, open access to minerals, expand fisheries, and strengthen Canada's northern presence. Critics may reasonably worry about environmental risks, boom and bust development, outside ownership and public infrastructure being designed primarily around industry. What enforceable conditions must accompany these projects to ensure Inuit communities receive enduring wealth rather than temporary construction jobs? Oh, great question. I think a big part of that is what I mentioned around the ownership and the leadership component

coming from within Inuit organizations. and my hope is that that ownership stake or that controlling interest stake would help to drive the benefits in the long term. When it comes to environmental impacts, that's where I think we do rely as a territory and we do trust in our institutes of public government. So we have a Nerva Water Board, the NERVil Planning Commission, and the NERA Impact Review Board, who will work and look at development in the territory and ensure that it's done in a way that benefits are maximized and negative impacts are minimized. And as a public government, we do engage

and we do participate in environmental assessment processes. And so, you know, no matter which project it is in Nunavut, and whether it's being led by an Inuit organization or by a mining company, that's the bar that they have to meet is they have to get the approval, they have to get a project certificate through these bodies. And the NERVote Impact Review Board, when they issue a project certificate, whether it's for a new mine or a major project in the territory, they'll have conditions that will attach to that certificate,

and those conditions are binding. They're not negotiable. You know, proponents can't just take the project certificate and run. They are held accountable through the environmental assessment process for, you know, the impacts going forward. So that's a process that is very foundational to the territory and it's one that we trust in as a government. On April 1st, 27, responsibility for managing most public lands, natural resources, and water is scheduled to transfer from Ottawa to the government of Nunavut. It is one of the most consequential changes in the territory's political development since its creation.

What will Devolution allow Nunavut to do on April 2nd that it can't do today? Oh, great question. So I mean, Devolution, yeah, it's been a long time in the works. It took years and years of negotiations. and in the last government, our previous Premier Achael signed the final agreement. And I was there for the signing. It was a momentous occasion. It was huge for the territory.

And we are the government that is going to implement devolution. We're committed to doing it right. We're committed to doing it in a way that ensures continuity, and, you know, reassures investors, reassures stakeholders all around the territory. And so the biggest change is going to be decision-making power in terms of land use and projects. It'll go from the signature on a project being required from a federal minister to a Nunville government minister. So that'll be a big, moment and just the power shift in terms of the responsibility coming to our government,

that'll be the biggest change. But, you know, with increased responsibility comes increased pressure, increased scrutiny. So that's where we are committed to doing it right to making sure that we're not cutting corners and to making sure that we are ready for April 1st when it comes. And as we sit now, I'm looking forward to April 1st. It's going to be an incredible day. And we'll see the creation of a new Nunavul Government Department to take on these new responsibilities. And really looking forward to it. That's very exciting.

Ottawa has announced tens of billions of dollars for northern defense infrastructure, including upgrades connected to the equivalent and new operational hubs or nodes involving resolution. Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet. The federal government has also proposed an Arctic infrastructure fund and investments in northern airports and dual-use transportation. Can Canada credibly claim Arctic sovereignty if the people living in the Arctic still face overcrowded housing, unreliable infrastructure, and limited access to health care?

Yeah, I mean, they could claim what they want, but it's going to ring hollow if, uh, communities are struggling. And so that's a message that we've been sharing and reiterating. It's one that was outlined in our Arctic Security and Sovereignty Strategy, which was developed late in the last government alongside Inuit organizations. And so what we're looking for is a holistic view of Arctic Security and Sovereignty from our federal partners that includes the health of communities. We want to avoid the mistakes of the past

where we had investments that were made exclusively, say, during the Cold War. Almost exclusively, investments were driven by hard security requirements and there was a very regrettable and, you know, quite shameful method in which those invents

those investments were made, you know, in the 1960s. You know, that decades have passed. It's 2006. We're talking about security and sovereignty. We need to include communities and the health of communities in the conversation. And so, you know, that message is one that will continue to share and look for opportunities for dual use or multi-use infrastructure. A great example would be a drinking water plant or expansion to a community's runway investments in power generation. You know, those are things that can benefit defense interests but also benefit community interests. So we're going to continue looking for those types of opportunities. And the Arctic Infrastructure Fund is great to see.

you know, but, you know, my concern around the Arctic Infrastructure Fund is that it's, it's, you know, $1 billion spread across three territories that have each seen, you know, a long pattern of underfunding. And so my concern, I welcome the Arctic Infrastructure Fund. Don't get me wrong. But my concern is that, you know, there needs to be a longer, much more sustained investment push for us to ever get on par with the rest of the country. The Arctic needs more than a moment.

We need a long property planned out investment cycle to play out over a number of years to bring us up to par. Premier Maine, I am mindful that I don't live in your territory or your region. And there may have been questions or comments that you would like to share that you may not have had the opportunity to. Is there anything you want your citizens or broader Canada to know? Yeah, I think, you know, I think the thing I would want them to know is you have to visit. You have to visit.

You can't, I think you can't put into words the things that you'll learn or the things that you'll see by actually physically coming here. and so you know that's usually if it's a federal minister if it's a friend that's usually the thing I'll gravitate towards is when are you going to visit and you know I was so privileged to welcome you know three successive health ministers in the last government to Nunabu. Three successive health ministers came and visited and each one of them you know to host them to see their eyes open and the moment of realization when they saw the challenges that we face in health care was very rewarding and just an honor to host colleagues in that regard. You know, I recently in my role as premier, I hosted premier canoe here in my home community.

And again, it was just an honor to welcome a colleague to the territory. So, you know, that's the message I would want to send. to your listeners is, you know, you have to visit. And if you do visit, we're going to be happy to see you. And you'll learn a few things about NNNUUUT. How can people follow your work? Hmm. In terms of our government, I mean, we're on social media.

I have an account as Premier. Our government also has accounts. Yeah, there's lots of opportunities to catch up on what's happening on Nernabut. Now we have some great media in the territory. We'll also do great work in terms of CBC. We have Nunat-Chair News. We have News North. Also other media that I've probably not mentioned, so apologies there.

But you can learn a lot about NIRVOT, whether it's through social media or through the media. And if you're interested, the info is out there. How do I say thank you in Anukta-Took for your time. In a here in Ogway, you say, Matna. Matna? Yeah.

Tremendous. Well, thank you so much for being willing to do this, Premier Main. It's a privilege to learn about your region, the community, the challenges you're facing,

and how you're thinking those things through. And I just really appreciate your honesty about the pressure that you feel that you're under. I think that just gives people a lot of hope when they know that there is a weight

on your shoulders, they do know you're taking this incredibly seriously. So thank you for being willing to share your time today. Well, thanks so much for your interest, and it's been great to chat. And when are you coming up? Soon, I hope. That sounds fantastic. It would be an honor to learn more about the region.

Well, we'll have to see what we can do then.