As Canada prepares for a second Trump term and growing threats to its sovereignty from China and Russia, Ottawa finalizes long-awaited Arctic foreign policy with Inuit leaders for release by year-end. .
Inuit leaders and federal ministers met in Ottawa on Friday to consider policy details, including the return of the Arctic ambassador.
Royal and Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree told CBC News that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is working with Inuit partners to appoint someone to the position.
Earlier this fall, the U.S. federal government appointed Michael Sfraga as the first U.S. special envoy for the Arctic.
“I think it’s strategic for us as a country to play a more diplomatic role with our allies and all other nations,” said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK).
Whoever is nominated for the role will face serious challenges, including pressure on Canada from President-elect Donald Trump to increase defense spending, tensions over Indigenous rights, and threats from China and Russia. Probably.
“We are investing in the Arctic,” Joly told reporters in French on Friday. “That’s what the United States expects from Canada, and that’s why we believe our defense approach is also a win-win.”
Canada’s new defense policy promises $73 billion in additional defense spending over the next 20 years and focuses on threats to the Arctic. This is aimed at bringing Canada closer to meeting NATO members’ military spending target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product, but Canada will not reach that goal until the 2030s.
Rob Hubert, interim director of the University of Calgary’s Center for Military Security and Strategic Studies, said there is a real risk that Canada will be seen as a free rider.
“Canadian governments tend to talk a lot about protecting Arctic sovereignty, but they tend to take very little action,” he said.
“It is simply foolish to think that our enemies will wait until the 2030s for us to be ready.”
Canada faces challenges from the United States
Hubert said the North Pole is ground zero for mitigating threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has increasingly talked about launching nuclear weapons from Russia’s far north.
He said Beijing intends to follow Russia’s lead and reclaim territory it feels has been unfairly taken from China, such as Taiwan. If that happens, China could begin deploying to the Arctic as a diversionary move to reduce the concentration of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, he said.
“It’s about separating Americans,” Hubert said.
He added that Canada is not ready to face the challenges ahead.
China is building icebreakers, including one with a deep-sea submersible that Hubert said could endanger deep-sea cables.
Ottawa is also building new icebreakers and has plans to replace its submarine fleet, while a long-range missile tracking system being developed for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in the Arctic will be completed in 2033. It is not fully operational until then.
Canada may also face friction with the United States over the Northwest Passage. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Canada’s claims to sea lanes as “unreasonable” during President Trump’s first term in the White House.
Inuit leaders have been working with Joly and the Global Affairs team since the spring to develop a new Arctic foreign policy. Obed said this would be a progressive strategy that would allow Inuit to participate in conversations with foreign countries that affect the Arctic.
Inu Inu leaders look forward to new infrastructure
Obed said Canada could innovate in the way it partners with Indigenous peoples, ignoring the difficulties of Inuit participation and even relocating Inuit from northern Quebec to the high Arctic to assert Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. “We can overcome this history,” he said.
“I really hope that our community can move away from the idea that the militarization of the Arctic has no impact,” Obed said.
“This policy and the continued positive relationship between the Government of Canada and Inuit will allow us to move beyond a legacy of shocking disregard for human rights and put us in a position to rightfully participate in the conversation.” You can.”
As new defenses are developed in the Arctic, Inuit leaders expect the federal government to also build new roads, water and sewer infrastructure in their communities.
They are also exploring joint use of a new seaport and hangar, which will require enhanced security when Canada takes delivery of its first fleet of new F-35 fighter jets in 2026. It can be difficult.
Anandasangaree said anything Canada builds in the Arctic needs to be accepted by local communities.
“We cannot continue to adopt a colonial attitude toward North Korea, especially the Inuit.”
“They need to be part of the conversation and part of the decision-making.”
