\u201cEven I notice our last election, a party that isn\u2019t usually the biggest party but is a party that wants to stay connected to Denmark \u2013 won. It\u2019s a conversation that\u2019s very ongoing but also a little bit hard to talk about right now because we have to have unity with Denmark now because Denmark is the one who provides security in Greenland,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the biggest party now where usually they aren\u2019t, because now people are like we need to stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kopeck took part in Northern Perspectives 2026\u00a0in Winnipeg, a conference focused on building economic opportunity and trade relations in the north between Manitoba and Nunavut.<\/p>\n
As one of the keynote speakers, Topeck says she was there because she cares \u201cdeeply about Inuit futures across borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, she says, one of the major issues for Inuit in Greenland is how systems like governance, business and education are defined by the colonial Danish systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenland looks to Denmark and to Europe more broadly, to model what a \u2018functional\u2019\u00a0society should look like,\u201d she tells the audience of political and business leaders, \u201cEqual access inside a colonial system doesn\u2019t create equality, it often just reproduces who already has power.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her address, Kopeck tells APTN News that she\u2019s happy that the prime minister and premiers of the territories are taking Arctic security more seriously \u2013 an issue in Canada and Greenland.<\/p>\n
But, she adds, the conversation around being annexed by the United States has set the conversation about independence from Denmark back.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I said in my speech, we don\u2019t have military so for right now we have to stick together and what I feel as a Greenlandic Inuk who talks about independence for Greenland \u2013 this has been a little bit hard because the conversations have been a little bit put on hold now. But that\u2019s just how it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kopeck says given the international attention to the threats from the U.S., she\u2019s happy that the world is supporting Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), including Canada opening a consular office in the capital of Nuuk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it so much,\u201d says Kopeck.<\/p>\n
Canada opens consular office<\/p>\n
More than 90 Inuit flew from Canada to Nuuk last week for the opening of the consular office there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was beautiful to see, like, the whole plane filled with Canadian Inuit with the Greenlandic flag and the Canadian flag together really warmed my heart. And just showed that we Inuit are one people just separated by borders,\u201d says Kopeck.<\/p>\n
But she says Canada made one glaring mistake that could have shown its acknowledgement for Inuit living in both countries.<\/p>\n
Greenland is an autonomous island territory of Denmark and Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly said any decisions about Greenland\u2019s future are up to the people of Greenland and Denmark.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, what Canada could have done \u2026 it would have been amazing if the [Consular Official] was Canadian Inuk. That would have made so much sense. Maybe it\u2019s hard to find someone right for the job, but I don\u2019t think so. There are so many amazing, smart Inuit up there I feel like at this point the relationship between Canadian Inuit and Greenlandic Inuit are already really strong,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also feel there is a little bit of a disconnect, as I said, for example, in my speech, that when the prime minister (of Canada) came out and said like \u2018we support Greenland\u2019, he didn\u2019t say we support Greenland first. He said we support Denmark and then as a footnote said we support Greenland. So there\u2019s already a disconnect, like he put NATO first, the Allies first, but not the Inuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada supports the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity universally, including as they apply to Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark. As we have consistently stated, the future of Greenland is for Greenland and Denmark alone to determine.<\/p>\n
The security of the\u2026<\/p>\n
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