Inuit community, Pond Inlet. Traditionally, community decisions were made by consensus. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Two candidates will be on the ballot in September for the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami presidential election.

Incumbent Natan Obed will face former CBC North managing editor Kevin Kablutsiak.

ITK, the national organisation representing Canadian Inuit, made the announcement Friday morning, a day after the nomination deadline.

The winner will be determined September 18 during the organisation’s annual general meeting in Cambridge Bay.

Obed, 49, has been at the helm of ITK since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the organisation’s history.

He won the 2015 and 2018 presidential elections, then was acclaimed in 2021 when no one ran against him. Obed announced he will run in the upcoming election as a “veteran,” despite previously saying this would be his final term.

Kablutsiak, 47, is a first-time candidate for political office.

Along with previously holding several positions at ITK, Kablutsiak’s resume includes work for various organisations such as Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., First Air and Canadian North. He also served as executive director for the Arctic Inspiration Prize and managing editor at CBC North.

ITK presidents are not directly elected by Inuit Nunangat beneficiaries.

Instead, the head of the organisation is selected in a vote among four recognised Inuit organisations: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.; Makivvik Corp., representing Inuit in Nunavik; Inuvialuit Regional Corp., of the western Arctic; and the Nunatsiavut government, the Inuit land-claims organisation for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Two delegates from each region and the vice-president of ITK cast a ballot to decide the winner.

Source: Nunatsiaq News