OTTAWA — The federal government says it is proposing to reissue fishing licences to a coalition of Mi’kmaw First Nations in Atlantic Canada, despite objections from Inuit in Nunavut.

In 2021, Inuit sued the federal government over its decision to hand over a sizable portion of fishing licences off Nunavut’s coast to the First Nations coalition, after the coalition purchased half of Clearwater Foods earlier that year.

Inuit argued the government failed to consider provisions of the Nunavut Agreement, which says Ottawa should recognize that the communities closest to a resource are usually most likely to benefit from that resource.

A federal judge ruled last year that the government didn’t do that, struck down the decision to reissue the licences to the Mi’kmaw group, and ordered the government to do the process over.

In a statement issued today, Fisheries and Oceans Canada says it has completed its preliminary analysis and is proposing to reissue the licences as it had before.

The department says it will give the parties a month to respond to the decision before making a final recommendation to the minister.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press