Indigenous groups want more say at Arctic Council (CBC News)

10 May Indigenous groups want more say at Arctic Council (CBC News)

Some northern indigenous groups want the Arctic Council to give them the right to vote and other powers that are currently reserved for member countries like Canada, the United States and Russia.

Groups like the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the Arctic Athabaskan Council want to have a greater say in the affairs of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum that brings together eight northern nations.

Both groups are among six Arctic indigenous groups that are “permanent participants” in the Arctic Council, meaning they can take part in all forum meetings and voice their views to the eight member nations.

But that’s all they can do right now, said Jimmy Stotts, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Alaska.

“We don’t have a right to vote. That right is reserved to the states,” Stotts told CBC News from Nuuk, Greenland, where high-level officials from the eight Arctic Council nations will meet on Thursday.

“We would argue that we should have more decision-making authority.” …Go to article.