Canada has long branded itself as an Arctic power. It’s time to start acting like one
Natan Obed
Contributed to The Globe and Mail
Published 4 hours ago
Natan Obed is president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization working to ensure that Inuit in Canada prosper through unity and self-determination.
Canada has a tremendous advantage over other Arctic nation-states that seek influence over the region. Inuit are Canada’s Arctic strength – our treaties, land management and historical occupation of a significant portion of this country provide Canada with a foundation for success that few Arctic countries enjoy.
In turn, Canada also has an opportunity, at a time of increased global focus on the Arctic as a militarily and economically strategic region, to bring Inuit Nunangat – the Inuit homeland – into the rest of the country. We have an opportunity to become the nation we want to be.
Inuit Nunangat encompasses the entirety of Canada’s Arctic territory, making up 40 per cent of the country’s land area, 70 per cent of its coastline and 35 per cent of its total surface water. Our people form the majority population in the region, where we co-manage our land and resources with the Crown through five Inuit-Crown treaties, whose rights are enshrined under Section 35 of the Constitution.
Inuit are the beneficiaries of progressive policies that make us the largest private landholders in this country. In recent years, Ottawa has made welcome and incremental investments in positive initiatives, and has partnered with Inuit to improve policies, programs and legislation affecting our people and homeland.
However, almost nobody who is imagining the future of the Arctic lives here, and few have even visited. Even at this time of global interest, we have yet to convince Canadians and government that we are an essential part of Team Canada.
The composition of Canada’s hockey team roster in the 4 Nations Face-Off has been a continuing debate for the past year. The lack of consideration for Inuit participation in the political Team Canada is metaphorically akin to Hockey Canada not understanding that Sidney Crosby is Canadian, and that he would be eager to play for us.
That’s the possible contribution that Inuit can bring to this team approach – not only in the conversation right now with the United States, but also in the way that Canada asserts its own sovereignty and the way Canada speaks to the world about itself.
Canada is uniquely afflicted among Arctic states by its lack of ambition for the Arctic. While the Northeast Passage is currently open across the Russian Arctic, Ottawa continues to mull over the possibility of opening the Northwest Passage for shipping or economic development.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeated his intention to expand America’s Arctic territory by annexing Greenland. China, meanwhile, already invested US$2-billion in Greenland between 2012 and 2017, as it seeks to buy influence in the region. Greenland’s deep-sea ports, domestic food production, paved roads, garbage incinerators, fibre-optic network and hydroelectric power have for decades been the envy of many who visit the self-governing country.
Countries like the U.S., Denmark, Norway and Sweden have developed innovative energy projects in their Arctic regions, including wind and hydro plants, have connected their communities to national fibre-optic grids and have prioritized the transportation and social infrastructure needed to improve the prosperity of their citizens and align living standards with those in the more populous regions of their countries.
Canada’s Arctic region, by contrast, is held back by a frontier mentality that has left our communities racked by power outages, boil-water advisories and astronomically high food costs. We rely on painfully slow, decades-old satellite technology to connect with the rest of the country and the world.
Defence spending promises major infrastructure investment. But the only path to success is through mixed-use infrastructure: water and sewer systems, ports and runways shared by military and communities – structures that in some cases would likely be primarily used by Inuit communities.
Inuit understand how we fit into Canada. It’s time for Canada and Canadians to work with us to close the widening chasm between Canada’s stated ambitions for the Arctic and the stark realities we are faced with on the ground. We are spearheading the establishment of the first university in the Arctic – Inuit Nunangat University – and have developed strategies identifying solutions for climate adaptation, food security and suicide prevention. We created the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee to advance work on shared priorities such as housing, health and legislative initiatives.
As a federal election nears, Inuit call on all political parties to build on this work and prioritize bringing Inuit Nunangat into Canada through the major investments needed to create prosperity for Inuit and all Canadians.
Canada has long branded itself as a Northern and Arctic power. It is high time that it started acting like one
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