By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News
January 13, 2026
As Premier John Main settles into his new role at the head of Nunavut’s government, he says he’s aware of annexation threats from the United States toward Greenland but it’s difficult to process them.
“It is quite bewildering to understand the thought processes [of] some of the international actors around Greenland,” Main said in an interview.
“We’re in support of their desire for self-determination, of course, and we all know the horrible history of colonization and military interests, and how they’ve impacted the North in the past.”
Main did not reference U.S. President Donald Trump or any members of his administration by name.
But it’s Trump and his administration who have been ramping up calls over the past week to acquire the Arctic territory, which sits east of Nunavut.
Trump has mused about buying or using the military to acquire the largest island in the world, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark and home to approximately 56,000 people, the vast majority of whom are Inuit.
Nunavut maintains active agreements with Greenland, Main noted, including on the topic of fisheries.
Actions by the U.S. toward Greenland are something Main says he is “going to have to keep a close eye on.”
“We stand in solidarity with Greenlanders,” he said. “It’s deeply troubling.”
Apart from international diplomacy, the past two months have been busy for Main as he settles into his new role as premier.
From moving into his new office, to getting to know the Government of Nunavut’s partners and his first meetings with other premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney, there has been “a lot of learning,” Main said.
Main’s government has not released its mandate yet. That is currently in the works in collaboration with cabinet and regular MLAs, with hopes to release it during the March legislative sitting.
Main is “really excited” for a full caucus meeting scheduled later this month, when all 22 members will have their say in the government’s four-year plan.
“There’s a lot of great ideas, but ideas without money have no legs,” he said.
The government’s 2026-27 capital budget is also set to be tabled in March, while the 2026-27 operations budget is expected to come after MLAs reconvene in May, said Main, who is also the finance minister.
Main plans to meet with Carney and his fellow premiers in Ottawa this month. Around that time, he also expects to fly his cabinet south for meetings with federal officials.
It’s exciting, Main says, that the federal government is interested in bolstering Arctic sovereignty and security.
However, sovereignty can only be asserted with “healthy communities,” he said. That means adequate housing, health care, power generation and access to clean drinking water.
“The federal interest in the North and in Nunavut needs to be based on our terms and on what we need, not what they want to superimpose on top of us,” Main said.
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“It needs to start with the realities in the territory, which are challenging on a good day.”
