Canada in the Age of the Arctic
Ken Coates
$10 by cash or cheque at the door no registration required.
Global interest in the Far North ebbs and flows. In the 18th century, the search for northern passages from Europe to North America and East Asia held international attention for decades. Today, the widespread effects of rapid climate change have alerted the world to the natural and ecological implications of unchecked emissions. At the same time, imminent shortages of critical minerals encourage northern nations to open their lands for exploration and resource development. Geopolitical tensions, Indigenous re-empowerment efforts, resource potential and ecological vulnerability have thrust the Arctic to the forefront of international public affairs.
Canada is the second largest northern country in the world. For decades, Canada led many aspects of northern development, extending government programs throughout the region, building company towns and expanding Arctic scientific investigations. Now the country’s leadership position has weakened, marked by a small military presence, poor infrastructure development, and the severe socio-cultural problems facing the Indigenous peoples and communities. Other Arctic countries have stepped up, improving regional infrastructure, expanding social and economic programs, and taking aggressive steps to protect the Arctic environment.
This presentation moves beyond rhetoric and nostalgia about the Arctic and looks at how contemporary forces—from the Internet to opioids, government policy to climate change – are transforming the Far North. It considers four crucial determinants of Arctic futures: Indigenous re-empowerment, the campaigns for northern autonomy, global climate change, and southern attitudes toward northern regions. Canada emerges as rather unimaginative and slow moving, no longer a lead play in determining the future of the Arctic.
Dr. Ken Coates is the Chair of the Indigenous Governance Program, Yukon University, and formerly Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan. Raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, Ken holds degrees from the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba. He is the Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Indigenous Prosperity program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
$10 by cash or cheque at the door no registration required.
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