Mental health and education top of mind for new president of National Inuit Youth Council
Gwen Natsiq, 21, is from Iqaluit and will serve a 2-year term as council president
The National Inuit Youth Council's new president, Gwen Natsiq, says she plans to spend her two-year term focused on improving youth access to mental health resources and education.
The council elected Natsiq, 21, as president on June 5 to represent Inuit across Canada from 2025 to 2027.
"I'm very honoured and very excited," she said.
During her term she will have a permanent place on the board of directors for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada and as an observer on the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee. Natsiq said that allows her to be in the room when decisions are made that affect Inuit youth, both to advocate and to educate.
"Being able to be a part of these meetings, you have your voices heard and your opinions on issues," she said.
Natsiq is currently working toward her teaching degree at Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit, where she's served as student council president.
She's also worked as a mental health outreach worker. She says that work, and her own experiences, motivate her to support other young people, especially when it comes to mental health resources.
"I personally have had a lot of family members suffer with mental health and unfortunately pass … during all of that, I realized how important it is to actually advocate for these things," she said.
She says one of her first priorities as president will be to send out a survey to gather feedback on what other Inuit youth want to see from her.
In a news release announcing Natsiq as the new president, the National Inuit Youth Council thanked the other three candidates who ran for president: Trevor Wright, Davina McLeod and Nia Morris.