NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) President Todd Russell today issued the following statement in response to the recent announcement that the annual Northern Lights 2025 Business & Cultural Showcase has been cancelled:
“NCC is extremely disappointed in the cancellation of this important event. The cancellation appears to a result of a threatened boycott by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK). The threat to not participate unless NCC was banned from the event is a detriment to and negatively impacts all Northern Peoples.
Collectively, we have all benefited from the Northern Lights Business & Cultural Showcase over the past 16 years. It has been extremely supportive of, and intrinsic to, all Northern Peoples’ collective economic health and well-being. It was an opportunity to showcase our businesses and cultures from across the North. And a time to get together, to catch up with old friends, solidify new relationships, and to spend time learning more about each other. It was a celebration of who we are as a unique and complex group of Northern Peoples.
We understand that this must have been a difficult decision for the organizers to make. Together, the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Labrador North Chamber of Commerce have created an extraordinary experience for all participants. While NCC has not been formally told the reason why the event was cancelled, we are saddened by the lost opportunity.
NCC has always taken the approach that it is better when we work together and have opportunities to share our stories, cultures and economic prospects with each other, and the larger community.
We again extend a formal invitation to Mr. Obed and Mr. Lampe to sit and work together to find solutions and address all of our people’s priorities. Senseless boycotts and other exclusionary practices harm us all. It is only through communication and a willingness to solve problems, real or imaginary, will we be able to move forward.
NunatuKavut Inuit, from our crafters to our businesses, have also expressed their disappointment in this cancellation. The Northern Lights Business & Cultural Showcase has become an iconic event for the North. We hope there is a time when we can again come together with our fellow Northern Peoples to strengthen our economic relationships and share our culture.”
NCC Media Contact
Kelly Broomfield
Chief Communications Officer
T: 709-280-5965
E: communications@nunatukavut.ca