The NunatuKavut Community Council has suffered another blow in its efforts to affirm Inuit rights claims.

The NCC says the federal department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs sought an external independent review of the evidence provided by the NCC in support of its Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination process.

The group retained the Laurier Research Group to conduct the review and prepare a report, however NCC President Todd Russell says despite “many requests to be involved in the process, it proceeded without any involvement or commentary from NCC.”

Russell says the Laurier Research Group’s review validates the information provided to the Canadian government by the NCC.

Despite that, Russell says the department claims that the Laurier Group did not fulfill contractual requirements, without providing “evidence to substantiate that assertion.”

He alleges that the department intends to “shelve the report” so that it “never sees the light of day.”