Canadian Government Promises Renewed Arctic Focus
by Clive Tesar
In a speech outlining the priorities of the Canadian government, the Arctic topped the agenda. Promising “new attention” to the north, the government says it will bring forward an integrated northern strategy that includes giving northerners more control over their government.
As part of this strategy, the government plans to build a new Arctic research station. In a statement, Inuit Circumpolar Council -Canada president, Duane Smith, supported the research facility, and expressed the hope that it will address all of the Canadian Arctic, and that climate change adaptation studies will be a central focus of the facility.
The issue of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic was also addressed in the speech. According to the speech, mapping of the Arctic sea bed will be completed, and the size and capabilities of the mainly indigenous Arctic Rangers military unit will be expanded.
“I am happy with the throne speech focus on sovereignty and improving the well being of Inuit,” says Smith, “but I remind the government that sovereignty cannot be divorced from battling climate change in the Arctic.”
Other northern Canadian Indigenous Peoples echoed Smith’s welcome of the renewed focus on the north, coupled with concerns that impacts of climate change in the north seem absent from the government’s agenda. Members of Gwich’in Council International also noted that the new northern strategy will succeed only if it is developed in concert with Canada’s Arctic Indigenous Peoples.