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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In Nunavut and the New Arctic<\/em>, 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 \u2018great melt\u2019. The territory faces difficulty serving basic community needs and \u201chas a long way to go to fully participate and take advantage of its natural geographic and human strengths in the New Arctic\u201d, according to the CIGI policy brief.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s emerging ice-free environment. These include:<\/p>\n Higginbotham says: \u201cLack of understanding of Northern conditions often undermines current federal government policies and programs, and lack of understanding of Nunavut\u2019s unique system of governance can slow much needed investment.\u201d He adds that all levels of government should \u201clook to pragmatic, functional solutions to current problems, rather than focussing on large, grandiose projects.\u201d<\/p>\n The Government of Canada \u201cshould 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n