Rebecca Alty’s 2026 priorities – and her views on Greenland

The NWT’s MP says fighting in Ottawa for northern infrastructure and housing will be top of her list in 2026.

Former Yellowknife mayor Rebecca Alty is also the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.

How long she’ll have in which to act on her 2026 priorities isn’t clear.

With Mark Carney still leading a minority government despite recent floor crossers, Alty said she is conscious of needing to check off “short-term or easy wins while continuing to work on those longer-term projects” given an election could be called in the year ahead.

“The world’s moving fast, too. We don’t have time to dilly-dally,” she added.

Alty said she wants to reach an agreement-in-principle with the Dehcho First Nations by this summer regarding self-government, and insisted the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor reaching a “second-tier” list at the Major Projects Office is an important development, though how it will be funded remains unclear.

Listen to the full interview between 10-11am on Tuesday, January 20 or download the podcast.

Jordan’s Principle features on Alty’s priority list for 2026.

She says the federal program, designed to ensure equity for First Nations children, still “needs work” after major changes in 2025. Those changes ended up significantly reducing the funding some NWT schools receive, particularly to employ educational assistants.

The message from Indigenous Services Canada – which said the program was oversubscribed and vulnerable to abuse, and change was necessary – is that individual parents, rather than NWT schools, should now apply for help.

Alty questioned the impact of that shift on “red tape” associated with Jordan’s Principle. “Do we really want 300 applications or ‘X’ number of school boards sending in?” she asked. She said conversations with cabinet colleagues about Jordan’s Principle are ongoing.

Alty and Simpson on Greenland

Greenland’s situation changes by the day.

President of the United States Donald Trump has spent much of January stepping up his rhetoric about buying Greenland from Denmark – an outcome the Danes have outright rejected, and one in which few residents of Greenland have expressed any interest.

Trump has not shied away from threatening military force as an alternative, and has now moved toward imposing new tariffs on some European nations until Greenland is handed over to the US.

These developments come as Canada is already racing to improve its northern defence infrastructure. In the past year, for example, Inuvik and Yellowknife have been earmarked for upgraded military hubs.

However, in the shorter term, the Carney government now also has to be certain of how it will act if the US does begin a military operation in the Arctic.

“Canada is working with our allies and continuing to support Greenland’s autonomy,” Alty told Cabin Radio.

She also pointed to moves like Ottawa’s 2024 decision to create a consulate in the Greenland community of Nuuk, which is expected to receive an official opening next month.

However, asked if Canada is committed to taking military action should Denmark and Greenland request it, Alty declined to directly answer. She referred the question to defence minister David McGuinty and said she could not discuss what had been said at cabinet level about Canada’s military commitment to Greenland if the US makes good on its threats.

“I’ll leave that one to the minister of defence to talk more about,” she said.

About the North’s own security, she said: “The big message is that we be focused and that we continue our investments, but we’re not under threat.”

NWT Premier RJ Simpson was asked about the same topic by the CBC’s Rosemary Barton in a televised interview this past weekend.

“It looks like we could be heading back to a different time, a different way of operating. I think it’s concerning to everybody,” Simpson said.

Simpson noted Trump has also talked repeatedly about turning Canada into the 51st US state and recounted that during meetings with Canada’s premiers in Washington, DC, American staffers said: “Well, he hasn’t offered that to anyone else.”

“So he does seem to have a bit of an affinity for Canada,” Simpson continued. “I’m not as concerned about military action here but, you know, he’s made very clear that he’s willing to use any sort of economic levers he has, and it really seems like he doesn’t want to rule anything out for his options.”

This week, Simpson is hosting the Danish ambassador to Canada among other Nordic dignitaries.

“In the past six months, things have changed drastically and we’re seeing significant investments into the North, into the Arctic, and a lot of interest in the North and Arctic,” he told Barton.

“The landscape is definitely changing and I’m confident that we’re going to see more and more military personnel, equipment and capabilities developed in the North, starting immediately.”