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Mearns, who lives in Iqaluit, currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut.
Mearns’ appointment Thursday is the latest development in Canada’s new Arctic foreign policy
Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Inuit leader Virginia Mearns as Canada’s Arctic ambassador.
Carney made the announcement Thursday morning during an Inuit-Crown partnership committee meeting in Inuvik, N.W.T.
Mearns, who lives in Iqaluit, currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut, including as the deputy minister of executive and intergovernmental affairs. Mearns has also spent over a decade in various roles with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Mearns’ appointment Thursday is the latest development in Canada’s new Arctic foreign policy released in December. Canada has also committed to opening new consulates in Alaska and Greenland, supporting science and research in the Arctic and discussing Arctic security with foreign ministers in other northern countries.
With files from David Thurton