{"id":3770,"date":"2016-09-30T15:18:30","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T19:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=3770"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:41:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:41:37","slug":"arctic-council-20-years","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/arctic-council-20-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Governance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Sustainable Governance\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In the early 1990s, when the conversations that led to the creation of the Arctic Council<\/a> were reaching a crescendo, the role of Indigenous people was a subject of intense discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, six Indigenous organizations \u2014 including the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Gwich’in Council International<\/a> and Arctic Athabaskan Council<\/a> \u2014 were granted \u201cpermanent participant\u201d status alongside eight member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a new concept,\u201d recalled Mary Simon, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs<\/a>\u2019 special representative on Arctic issues, and one of Canada\u2019s lead negotiators in the talks that begat the Arctic Council. \u201c\u2018Observer status\u2019 was the level of participation that Indigenous peoples typically had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arctic
Mary Simon, minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs\u2019 special representative on Arctic issues.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simon, an Inuk who was Canada\u2019s inaugural Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs from 1994 to 2003, was speaking during a day-long conference at Carleton on Sept. 29 marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Arctic Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The council, which was formally established by a declaration in Ottawa in 1996, is an intergovernmental forum that promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic nations, Indigenous communities and other residents of the region on issues such as sustainable development and environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its member states are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States, and the other three permanent participants are the Aleut International Association<\/a>, the Saami Council<\/a> and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”3792″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A model of regional sustainable development governance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Simon praised the council as \u201ca model of regional sustainable development governance,\u201d noting that while ideas such as the need to incorporate traditional knowledge into scientific research are widely accepted today, that wasn\u2019t the case 25 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cArctic residents \u2014 including Indigenous peoples \u2014 are now much better equipped to participate forcefully in important discussions about the environment, development and culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The opening address at the conference, which was co-hosted by Carleton and the Waterloo-based Centre for International Governance Innovation<\/a> (CIGI), was delivered by Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, a Liberal MP from British Columbia and the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister<\/a> St\u00e9phane Dion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe well-being of northern people is being challenged by great shifts,\u201d said Goldsmith-Jones, speaking on behalf of Dion, who was scheduled to open the event but was called away to Israel for the funeral of former President Shimon Peres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arctic
Maatalii Okalik, president of the National Inuit Youth Council and
Jennifer Spence, PhD candidate in the School of Public Policy and Administration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The fragile Arctic ecosystem faces risks from resource extraction and ice-free navigation of its waters, and irresponsible development could spell disaster, said Goldsmith-Jones. Melting permafrost is impacting community infrastructure, and climate change is impacting wildlife populations, which remain an important source of food for many northerners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Arctic Council,\u201d she said, \u201cis a way to create collaboration around our collective responsibility. The world is in better shape because the council exists. Preservation of the Arctic ecosystem is important for the health of the entire planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only has the council brought Indigenous people to the table, it has also forged legally binding agreements on Arctic search and rescue and marine oil pollution preparedness, and it has produced studies on topics such as methane emissions, telecommunications, and Indigenous languages and cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, it\u2019s a forum for dialogue with Russia, which controls about half of all Arctic land and sea (compared to 25 percent for Canada) and isn\u2019t always a willing participant in international decision-making bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”3797″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-operating with Russia
on Arctic issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCo-operation with Russia on the full range of Arctic issues is in our best interest,\u201d said Goldsmith-Jones, who noted that Russia will participate in an Arctic conference at Carleton in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goldsmith-Jones\u2019 speech was followed by remarks from National Inuit Youth Council<\/a> president Maatalii Okalik, a Carleton student who also works for the Government of Nunavut<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInuit youth embrace their traditional identity,\u201d she said, talking about the importance of preserving Indigenous languages and cultures. \u201cWe need the appropriate tools to sustain it. Decisions made today will impact our future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Okalik\u2019s talk, Mary Simon and her co-panelists participated in a session reflecting on the creation and accomplishments of the Arctic Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arctic
John Higginbotham, a senior distinguished fellow at Carleton\u2019s Norman Paterson
School of International Affairs and head of the Arctic program at CIGI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simon was joined by Bill Erasmus, National Chief of the Dene Nation<\/a> and international chair of the Arctic Athabaskan Council; former Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, who served as Canada\u2019s health and environment minister, and chaired the Arctic Council from 2013 to 2015; and by Heather Exner-Pirot, an outreach and Indigenous engagement strategist at the University of Saskatchewan<\/a> and managing editor of the influential Arctic Yearbook<\/a> journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Arctic Council is the centre of a web, rather than the top of a hierarchical pyramid,\u201d said Exner-Pirot. \u201cIt allows a range of organizations to play a role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovation will be the key to sustainable development in the Arctic over the next couple decades, she added. Remote off-grid communities can benefit from tele-health and distance education initiatives, greenhouses that help improve food security, and locally generated renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the conference \u2014 which was held one day after the first-ever White House Arctic Science Ministerial<\/a> in Washington, D.C., where Canada\u2019s Minister of Science<\/a> Kirsty Duncan spoke on the importance of leveraging Arctic science to both inspire the next generation of young scientists and encourage young people in Arctic communities to develop science, technology, engineering and math skills \u2014 CIGI also released a new report, \u201cNorth of 60: Toward a Renewed Canadian Arctic Agenda<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”3894″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by John Higginbotham, a senior distinguished fellow at Carleton\u2019s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs<\/a>, and Jennifer Spence, a PhD candidate, instructor and research associate at the university\u2019s School of Public Policy and Administration<\/a> (SPPA), the collection of essays explores the \u201ccomplex social, environmental, economic and political\u201d issues at play in the North, and provide direction for Canada\u2019s future Arctic policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapidly changing environmental circumstances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It features a contribution by SPPA Prof. Frances Abele, who sketches out \u201ca starting point for a new federal approach\u201d to the Arctic that takes into account the North\u2019s \u201crapidly changing environmental circumstances\u201d and engages Indigenous organizations that have \u201ca realistic understanding of northern conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permafrost researcher Chris Burn, the other contributor from Carleton, tackles three immediate impacts of climate change that Canadian governments must contend with: the implications of building and maintaining public infrastructure on thawing permafrost, co-management of these and other environmental effects, and increased tourism in the North.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe have arrived at a critical moment for Canada\u2019s North,\u201d said Higginbotham.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWith the 20th anniversary of the Arctic Council, a heightened focus on climate change in the Arctic, and a Canadian government willing to confront some of the region\u2019s unique challenges, this special report helps carve out a clear direction for the future of Canadian Arctic policy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early 1990s, when the conversations that led to the creation of the Arctic Council were reaching a crescendo, the role of Indigenous people was a subject of intense discussion. Ultimately, six Indigenous organizations \u2014 including the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Gwich’in Council International and Arctic Athabaskan Council \u2014 were granted \u201cpermanent participant\u201d status alongside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1931,31],"cu_story_tag":[1921,1927,1926],"class_list":["post-3770","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-social-innovation","cu_story_type-sustainability","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs","cu_story_tag-indigenous","cu_story_tag-international"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97661,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3770\/revisions\/97661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=3770"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=3770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}