The paper, prepared by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), calls for greater policy attention and resources being paid to strategic Arctic maritime areas such as Canada’s north central region, Nunavut. CIGI is an independent non-partisan think tank on international governance founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, then co-CEO of Blackberry phone manufacturer Research in Motion.
In Nunavut and the New Arctic, CIGI senior fellow John Higginbotham highlights the need for basic maritime transport infrastructure in Nunavut, which is the Canadian region with potentially the most to gain from the ‘great melt’. The territory faces difficulty serving basic community needs and “has a long way to go to fully participate and take advantage of its natural geographic and human strengths in the New Arctic”, according to the CIGI policy brief.
Higginbotham highlights policy issues and infrastructure needs that, if addressed with local and global conditions in mind, will help the vast sea-dependent territory to take advantage of the Arctic’s emerging ice-free environment. These include:
- Much better navigational aids, charting and small craft harbour facilities, and credible search and rescue and oil spill mitigation capabilities for priority North American Arctic marine corridors
- An urgent need to invest in ramps, breakwaters and windbreaks for smaller communities
- Pro-active infrastructure support for mining and oil and gas facilities that can be responsibly developed in the next decade
- A long term need for a network of Arctic deep water ports, ports of refuge and re-fuelling facilities
- Updating transportation safety and security regulatory frameworks to meet unique conditions in the North, and
- Enacting a rigorous code of conduct governing cruise ships and private boats entering Canadian waters, as a step towards large scale, safe and culturally sensitive Arctic cruise tourism.
Higginbotham says: “Lack of understanding of Northern conditions often undermines current federal government policies and programs, and lack of understanding of Nunavut’s unique system of governance can slow much needed investment.” He adds that all levels of government should “look to pragmatic, functional solutions to current problems, rather than focussing on large, grandiose projects.”
The Government of Canada “should launch, with the territories and other players, a strategic North American Arctic marine corridor and port facilities initiative as a way to encourage all possible public and private partners to work to a common purpose.”
Access a free copy of the report at: http://www.cigionline.org/publications/2013/7/nunavut-and-new-arctic.
