Northern Development Northern Security

Collection of essays on various aspects of northern development including native landclaims, northern security and northern resources.

The North is an increasingly important focal point of public policy. The impact of climate change on the environment and community life underlines the urgent need for measures to slow this trend and facilitate adaptation to uncertain conditions. International events have underlined the importance of safeguarding Canada's sovereignty in its Arctic regions, and the federal government has announced a series of measures to further this objective. The result of a wide-ranging IRPP research program, this multidisciplinary volume explores the following themes: Canada in the circumpolar world - environmental, scientific and foreign-policy dimensions; First Nations, Inuit and public governance; economic development - enterprise, sustainable development and communities; sustaining people - education and human capital; and developing a northern policy for the future. Public policy specialists review the implications of the unprecedented changes in governance that have taken place in the three territories and in Aboriginal communities in northern Quebec and Labrador over the past three decades and analyze challenges that must be faced in order to strengthen economic development and quality of life for northern residents. Contributions from Inuit and First Nations leaders, former territorial premiers, and Aboriginal youth activists add further depth and perspective.Contributorsinclude Frances Abele, Elaine Alexie, George Berthe, George Braden, Michael Bravo, Thomas J. Courchene, Nellie Cournoyea, Anne Crawford, Gordon Erlandson, James Feehan, Terry Fenge, Violet Ford, Danny Gaudet, Minnie Grey, Franklyn Griffiths, Udloriak Hanson, Jack Hicks, Tom Hoefer, Rob Huebert, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Armand MacKenzie, Laura MacKenzie, Douglas McArthur, Stephen Mills, Nathan Obed, Aynslie Ogden, Tony Penikett, Hanne Petersen, Greg Poelzer, Thierry Rodon, F. Leslie Seidle, Mary Simon, France St-Hilaire, Richard Van Loon, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Graham White, and John B. Zoe

This work draws upon the history of Arctic development and the view of the Arctic in different states to explain how such a discourse has manifested itself in current broader cooperation across eight statistics analysis based on organization developments from the late 1970s to the present, shows that international region discourse has largely been forwarded through the extensive role of North American, particularly Canadian, networks and deriving form their frontier-based conceptualization of the north.

Food insecurity presents a serious and growing challenge in Canada’s northern and remote Aboriginal communities. In 2011, off-reserve Aboriginal households in Canada were about twice as likely as other Canadian households to be food insecure. Finding lasting solutions will require the involvement not just of policy-makers but of those most affected by food insecurity: people living in the North. In recognition of this problem, the Minister of Health, on behalf of Health Canada, asked the Council of Canadian Academies to appoint an expert panel to assess the knowledge of the factors influencing food security in the Canadian North and of the health implications of food insecurity for northern Aboriginal populations. The Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada found that food insecurity among northern Aboriginal peoples requires urgent attention in order to mitigate impacts on health and well-being. Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge offers policy-makers a holistic starting-point for discussion and problem-solving. It also provides evidence and options to researchers and communities engaging in local responses.

This is a significant contribution to the worldwide discussion of political self-determination as a source of socio-cultural and political hope, conflict and confusion. Inspired by Martin Ennals, long the quietly visionary Director-General of Amnesty International, the book consists of cases and penetratingly definitive analyses, culminating in trenchant recommendations for action by world bodies. With self-determination intensely at issue so widely, from the former Yugoslavia to Kashmir to Quebec, this distinguished book by a global group of experts is particularly timely.

Series of articles which summarize issues involved in Canada's claim to sovereignty over the Northwest Passage arranged in four parts: the setting; international arctic politics; Canadian arctic politics; conclusions.

The present book uses Sri Lanka's failed attempt at negotiating peace with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to examine the politics of state and market reforms towards liberal peace. Sri Lanka is seen as a critical case that demonstrates key characteristics and shortcomings of liberal peace, vividly demonstrated by internationally facilitated elite negotiations and donor-funded neoliberal development.

Global warming has had a dramatic impact on the Arctic environment, including the ice melt that has opened previously ice-covered waterways. State and non-state actors who look to the region and its resources with varied agendas have started to pay attention. Do new geopolitical dynamics point to a competitive and inherently conflictual “race for resources”? Or will the Arctic become a region governed by mutual benefit, international law, and the achievement of a widening array of cooperative arrangements among interested states and Indigenous peoples? As an Arctic nation Canada is not immune to the consequences of these transformations. In Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship, the authors, all leading commentators on Arctic affairs, grapple with fundamental questions about how Canada should craft a responsible and effective Northern strategy. They outline diverse paths to achieving sovereignty, security, and stewardship in Canada’s Arctic and in the broader circumpolar world. The changing Arctic region presents Canadians with daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities. This book will inspire continued debate on what Canada must do to protect its interests, project its values, and play a leadership role in the twenty-first-century Arctic. Forewords by Senator Hugh Segal and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of National Defence Bill Graham.