Who Owns the Arctic?

Arctic naval facility years from completion

The Canadian Press, May 29, 2011

Environmental and funding concerns are adding years to the construction of an Arctic naval port considered crucial to enforcing Canadian control of the Northwest Passage.

The Nanisivik port in Nunavut was originally supposed to be at least partially up and running by next summer, following a promise made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007.

But no construction is planned for this summer and defence officials admit that the refuelling station, intended to give the navy a permanent presence at the eastern gate of the contested passage, won't be operating for years.

The trials of Nunavut: Lament for an Arctic nation

Patrick White, Globe & Mail, April 2, 2011

Crime has doubled in Nunavut since the territory was founded 12 years ago this week, raising a critical question: Is Nunavut a failure of Canadian nation building? And if so, what must be done for history’s scars to heal?

PART I

Inside the dead man's house, Elisapee Qaumagiaq fell silent. She let the walls speak for her.

Someone had plunged his knuckles through the hallway drywall again and again and again, from the kitchen all the way down to the bedrooms. The blood had been washed away, but the tale of murder, outlined in felt-pen evidence markings, swirled beneath Ms. Qaumagiaq's snow boots.

The Inuit prepare to defend their rights

The Economist, March 3, 2011

Ottawa - WHEN in the Arctic, you should at least treat your host well. Royal Dutch Shell, an oil giant, had to learn this the hard way when planning to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska a couple of years ago. The firm had spent $84m on offshore leases and had satisfied regulators. But it failed to win over the Inupiat, an Inuit group. They worried that icebreakers and drill ships would hurt the bowhead whales on which they depend. Their leaders and environmental groups sued American regulators for not following a 1970 law on environmental impacts. This allowed them to wrest a number of concessions from Shell, including a commitment to stop all offshore operations during the bowhead migration and hunt, should drilling ever proceed.

Inuit want say on renaming Northwest Passage

Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service, October 20, 2009

Despite initial indications the planned renaming of the Northwest Passage to the "Canadian Northwest Passage" would have clear sailing through the House of Commons, the idea may be facing rough waters after all.

A major Inuit organization has raised concerns about the proposed symbolic boost to Canada's Arctic sovereignty, arguing any new name should "reflect the history of Inuit use and occupation of the waters in question for thousands of years," Canwest News Service has learned.

The search for a vision to match Arctic vastness

Anna Mehler Paperny, Globe and Mail, August 1, 2009

Aaju Peter laughs when she recalls the sight confronting her when she moved to Iqaluit in 1981: Houses. A landing strip. A few stores. A school.

Then she pauses. Almost 30 years later, not much has changed.

“We have more houses and more stores. But I don't think we have very much of a longer-term plan.”

'Arctic exile' monuments to strengthen Canadian sovereignty claim

Randy Boswell, CanWest News Service, April 20, 2009

More than a half-century after the controversial relocation of nearly 100 Inuit from northern Quebec and Baffin Island to two extremely remote sites in the High Arctic — a move partly aimed at bolstering Canadian sovereignty in the North — Nunavut's land claims agency has announced plans to erect monuments to honour the sacrifice of these "Arctic exiles" and ironically, to strengthen Canada's hold on the region.

Nunavut premier wants EU barred from Arctic Council

CBC News, April 15, 2009

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak says the European Union should not be allowed to join the Arctic Council, given its proposal to ban the import of seal products.

The EU is one of several bodies that have applied to be permanent observers at the council, an intergovernmental forum comprising eight Arctic countries, including Canada and the United States, as well as Arctic indigenous groups.

Nunavut's birthday sparks debate about future

Even before its existence, residents had faced social and economic challenges. But new issues now exist

Katherine O'Neill, Globe and Mail, April 1, 2009

Forget balloons and streamers.

The people of Grise Fiord - Canada's most northerly community - plan to wake up this morning and launch Nunavut's 10th birthday celebrations in their town by going on a seal hunt. Most of the Ellesmere Island community's 150 residents are Inuit, and the rest of the day will include traditional games such as a harpoon toss competition, seal skin sledding, and a community feast featuring "country" foods.

"Like everywhere else, this is nowhere near a perfect place, but the people of Grise Fiord are happy to be in Nunavut," said Marty Kuluguqtuq, who helped organize today's festivities with a $5,000 grant from the territorial government. "We look forward to the future."

Securing Canadian Sovereignty in the Arctic

Speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, August 12, 2006, Iqaluit, Nunavut

Good morning. Ublakut ...

I am very pleased to be in Iqaluit, Canada’s newest capital. Your city is my first stop on my first tour of the North since becoming Prime Minister.

Houses, Arctic research facility among budget goodies for North

CBC News, January 27, 2009

Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to flow to Canada's North as a result of Tuesday's federal budget, with money promised for projects ranging from much-needed public housing to a High Arctic research station. ...

For the full text, see: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/01/27/budget-north.html