QIA Response to Fisheries and Oceans Canada preliminary analysis on the Clearwater redetermination
Iqaluit, Nunavut – December 9, 2025 – The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) is extremely disappointed in the analysis and recommendations shared by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). For decades, QIA and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) have sought to address systemic Inuit exclusion from commercial fishing opportunities in Nunavut adjacent waters.
This longstanding effort resulted in the Federal Court’s May 2024 decision, which overturned the DFO’s transfer of a significant portion of quota to non-Nunavut interests. The Court found that the Minister had failed to consider Canada’s constitutional obligation to promote a fair distribution of quota to address historic Inuit exclusion.
Rather than chart a path toward equity, DFO’s latest recommendations simply maintain the status quo – allowing access to commercial fisheries to remain in non-Nunavut control and undercutting Nunavut’s economy and Inuit economic well-being for yet another generation.
“This leaves Inuit to wonder how Ottawa can claim to be implementing reconciliation while ensuring that the wealth from Inuit waters continues to flow south.” said QIA President Olayuk Akesuk. “Inuit access to the commercial fishery still significantly trails the access enjoyed by southern jurisdictions – this has tangible impacts on Inuit and Nunavut’s economy and undermines Canadian security in the arctic. Prime Minister Carney speaks of nation-building through Indigenous partnership, but this approach does the opposite: it erodes trust, ignores the law, and entrenches inequality for another generation of Inuit.”
QIA is currently assessing its options and will address our concerns in a response in early 2026.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Karen Flaherty
Director, Strategic Communications
Qikiqtani Inuit Association
(P) 867.975.8398 or toll-free 1.800.667.2742
kflaherty@qia.ca
