Northern Lights: a Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada
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1 FRONT COVER: Roberta Bondar, Meltwater Quttinirpaaq National Park, Nunavut, 1999 & 2014, Chromira Print, 32 x 32 in., Image courtesy of the artist. For more information please contact us: by email: [email protected] by mail: The Special Senate Committee on the Arctic Senate, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A4 This report can be downloaded at: www.sencanada.ca/ The Senate is on Twitter: @SenateCA, follow the committee using the hashtag #ARCT Ce rapport est également offert en français 2 Northern Lights: A Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada TABLE OF CONTENTS THE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP ........................................................................................................... 5 ORDER OF REFERENCE .......................................................................................................................... 7 THE FUTURE IS NOW: INTRODUCTION OF THE CHAIR AND DEPUTY CHAIR ....................................... 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 11 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 13 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 17 BACKGROUND – THE ARCTIC IN CONTEXT ......................................................................................... 21 A. Governance ....................................................................................................................... 21 B. Climate Change ................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 1: HEALTHY ECONOMIES TO BENEFIT THE ARCTIC ............................................................ 29 Economic Challenges and Opportunities ........................................................................................ 29 A. Churchill, Manitoba........................................................................................................... 33 B. Northwest Territories ....................................................................................................... 33 C. Nunavut ............................................................................................................................. 35 D. Nunatsiavut ....................................................................................................................... 36 E. Nunavik ............................................................................................................................. 37 F. Yukon ................................................................................................................................ 38 Arctic Growth Depends on Infrastructure Development ............................................................... 39 A. Continuum of Housing ...................................................................................................... 42 B. Air and Road Transportation............................................................................................. 43 C. Marine, Emergency Response and Navigation ................................................................. 44 D. Broadband Telecommunications ...................................................................................... 45 E. Energy ............................................................................................................................... 47 Education, Skills and Employment .................................................................................................. 49 A. Education Skills Gap .......................................................................................................... 49 B. Pathways to Post-Secondary Education ........................................................................... 50 Growing a Local Workforce ............................................................................................................ 52 A. Public Sector ..................................................................................................................... 52 B. Private Sector .................................................................................................................... 53 C. Conservation Sector Opportunities .................................................................................. 55 3 Northern Lights: A Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada CHAPTER 2 - CULTURE AS A PATHWAY TO STRONG AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES ......................... 57 Culture is Healing ............................................................................................................................ 57 Protecting Indigenous Ways of Life ................................................................................................ 60 Art, Culture and Identity ................................................................................................................. 63 A. Supporting Inuit Media ..................................................................................................... 64 B. Federal Programs for Art and Culture .............................................................................. 65 C. Supports for Emerging Artists ........................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 3: SCIENCE, INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ............ 70 Arctic Communities’ Knowledge Needs .......................................................................................... 70 A. Increasing Community Sustainability................................................................................ 70 B. Preparing for Tourism and Resource Development Opportunities .................................. 73 Arctic Research Infrastructure and Capacity .................................................................................. 74 A. Research Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 74 B. Capacity of Territorial and Indigenous Organizations ...................................................... 77 C. Research Funding .............................................................................................................. 78 Incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge in Arctic Research .......................................................... 80 Environmental Conservation: Towards a Conservation Economy ................................................. 84 A. Community-Driven Environmental Conservation ............................................................. 84 B. Building a Conservation Economy .................................................................................... 87 CHAPTER 4: THE ARCTIC IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT ................................................................................ 89 The Arctic Heats Up: Contending Perspectives .............................................................................. 90 A. Arctic Exceptionalism ........................................................................................................ 90 B. The Arctic as a Potential New Platform for International Rivalry .................................... 99 C. Avenues for Cooperation in a Changing Arctic ............................................................... 108 Inuit and Arctic First Nations’ International Priorities .................................................................. 110 A. Arctic Sovereignty: Co-Management of the Inuit Homeland ......................................... 111 B. Arctic Diplomacy and Development of International Agreements ................................ 112 C. Marine Shipping and Supporting Community Infrastructure ......................................... 114 APPENDIX A: WITNESSES WHO APPEARED BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ............................................ 117 APPENDIX B: WITNESSES WHO APPEARED DURING THE FACT-FINDING MISSION ......................... 126 APPENDIX C: WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS .............................................................................................. 131 APPENDIX D: REPORTS PERTAINING TO THE ARCTIC ....................................................................... 134 4 Northern Lights: A Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada THE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP The Honourable The Honourable Dennis Glen Patterson Patricia Bovey Chair Deputy Chair The Honourable Senators Margaret Dawn Mary Coyle Donna Dasko Anderson Joseph A. Day Nicole Eaton Richard Neufeld Victor Oh 5 Northern Lights: A Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada Ex-officio members of the committee: The Honourable Peter Harder, P.C. (or Diane Bellemare), or (Grant Mitchell) The Honourable Larry W. Smith (or Yonah Martin) The Honourable Yuen Pau Woo (or Raymonde Saint-Germain) The Honourable Joseph A. Day (or Terry M. Mercer) The committee would like to recognize the following Senators who are no longer serving members of the committee whose contribution to the study was invaluable: The Honourable Senators: Yvonne Boyer, Rosa Galvez, Marilou McPhedran, Kim Pate and Charlie Watt (retired). Other Senators who have participated in the study: The Honourable Senators: Gwen Boniface, Colin Deacon, Marc Gold, Mobina Jaffer, Mary Jane McCallum, Paul E. McIntyre and Carolyn Stewart Olsen. Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament: Sara Fryer and Thai Nguyen, Analysts Senate