INUVIK, NWT - The commander-in-chief of Canada's military pulled on an iconic red sweater as she stepped onto the frosty Arctic soil for the start of a five-day
northern tour Sunday. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean was greeted by a group of red-clad Arctic Rangers, a fixture of the modern-day North.
For more than half a century, the mostly Inuit patrols have roamed around the rugged region on snowmobiles and on foot, toting antique wooden rifles in defence of
Canadian sovereignty. The Rangers arrived at an airport tarmac to salute the Governor General, and she saluted them back by doffing the red cap and sweater they
gave her during her last visit to the region. Jean responded cheerfully when Inuvik's mayor suggested she might be shocked by the weather - -12C without taking into
account the swirling winds that swept clouds of snow off the vast white horizon.
"It's fine," Jean said with a smile. "Fresh air."
Jean then went to visit a local tourism office laden with local artifacts like antique wooden snow shovels, hunting gear, and traditional psychedelic-coloured moccasins
and parkas. She also toured an igloo-shaped Roman Catholic church in the company of the parish priest. In the shadow of the church's towering white dome, the
Nigerian-born priest pointed above the altar to the crucifix perched atop an igloo and called it a reminder that Jesus lives everywhere. That tour of a modern Catholic
church inspired by ancient Inuit architecture was among several visual examples of the point Jean hopes to make during her visit.
Another one of those examples was the presence of Rangers, a 4,000-member unit that relies on eons-old knowledge of the Arctic territory to help a comparatively
young country defend its geographic claims. Jean's point is this: after a half-century of drastic transformation and the myriad challenges it has posed, the people of
the North should feel optimistic now. The renewed attention being paid to the North by big city policy-makers will be a key undercurrent of Jean's trip.
She says local people must benefit from the new developments: the resource exploration, mining projects, sea port and the military training school that will supposedly
help bolster Canadian sovereignty. "This town (Inuvik) is where two worlds collide: one ancestral and the other, modern," Jean was to tell a community gathering late
Sunday, according to the prepared text of her speech. "You have a unique way of blending tradition with modernity. . . This openness to new possibilities is encouraging,
full of promise, as luminous as your aurora borealis. "One thing is clear: the North is at a turning point in its history and development, and Inuvik has a vital role to play."
In an interview with the Canadian Press last week, she said she was shocked to learn of the troubles in Canada's North when she came from Haiti as an 11-year-old
immigrant. She said it made her angry - and it made her even angrier when she realized some Canadians were indifferent to the plight of Northern communities. Every
lost opportunity, every teen suicide, and every source of despair in the region should be seen by all Canadians as a shared failure, Jean said. But she said there are
opportunities to be had for young people in this region - which has a shortage of skilled labour despite its chronically high unemployment. She says young people need
to believe they can have good jobs and a brighter future, and if they do they would be more likely to pursue an education.
"I always try to encourage young people to dream," Jean's speech text said Sunday. "To rouse in them a desire to realize their full potential. To dream big is to believe
that a new generation of health professionals, mechanics, carpenters, teachers, engineers, pilots will soon be emerging here, in the North."
