What’s in Canada’s Arctic foreign policy for the NWT?

“The true North is our destiny,” said the Prime Minister during a trip to Inuvik. “To not embrace its promise now, at the dawn of its ascendancy, would be to turn our backs on what it is to be Canadian.”

The PM in question was Stephen Harper, the trip took place in 2008, and that quote formed part of an “Arctic foreign policy” released by the Harper government a year or two later.

Fifteen years on, Canada under Justin Trudeau’s Liberals is back with a fresh shot at an Arctic foreign policy.

Released late last week, the document sets out how Canada will “foster a more secure, prosperous and resilient Arctic for Canadians in the face of new and emerging threats to the region.”

In the Harper document, the word “military” occurred twice, as did the word “Russia.” China was not mentioned.

This time around, “military” appears 18 times, Russia 28 times, and China 16 times. Things have changed.

“We are in a tough world and we need to be tough in our response. Competition is growing across the globe and the Arctic is not immune,” foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly was quoted as saying.

“We need a new approach to advance our national interests and to ensure a stable, prosperous and secure Arctic, especially for the northerners and the Indigenous peoples who call the Arctic home.”

There are plenty of similarities between Harper’s Arctic foreign policy and the new one Canada just set out: things like calls for “rules-based” diplomatic relations, economic promises, and a vow to include the North’s Indigenous peoples at every step.

But the new policy places much more emphasis on a “recalibrated approach” built around national defence.

“The guardrails that we have depended on to prevent and resolve conflict have weakened,” Joly stated.

“Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine has made cooperation with it on Arctic issues exceedingly difficult for the foreseeable future. Uncertainty and unpredictability are creating economic consequences that Canadians are facing every day.”

Russia and China are the main threats, the policy asserts, having pledged to work with each other in the Arctic. The two nations have carried out joint military exercises in Russia’s far north, and the policy points out that Nunavut’s Alert military base is closer to the nearest Russian air base than Iqaluit is to Ottawa.

While the policy states that “it is not in Canada’s strategic interest that the Arctic becomes a theatre of military conflict,” the message is that the nation must be ready and step up its game.

The document covers science, the economy, climate change and other aspects of life in the Arctic, too. It also draws together plenty of things that have already been announced, such as upgrades to military spending the North.

Here are some areas where the NWT might expect to see benefits or changes. (The new document does other things, too, but we’ve focused on statements it makes that appear to have a direct bearing on the territory.)

Military resources

Earlier this year, Canada said it would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the North. Multiple NWT communities hope to become “northern operational support hubs” that the Department of National Defence says it will soon select, a designation that brings with it investment in infrastructure.

In Inuvik, the extra spending might mean an upgrade into a town that once again hosts a full military base. Meanwhile, Yellowknife’s city council will spend part of its Monday meeting this week debating a motion that expressly invites defence minister Bill Blair “to choose Yellowknife and the Yellowknife Airport as a strategic centre for enhanced security and military capability.”

The new Arctic foreign policy document, summarizing other investments, says new ships, drones and aircraft “will play a key role in exercising Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and northern waters.” New icebreakers will help the Canadian Coast Guard’s Arctic presence, which may have tangential benefits for the NWT’s Arctic coastal communities.

This has all been announced already. Its inclusion in the Arctic foreign policy reinforces a federal spending commitment in the North that NWT communities are closely watching – and from which they hope to benefit.

More of an intelligence heads-up

Not long ago, the NWT’s premier said China had approached some northern Canadian communities with offers to help build infrastructure. RJ Simpson termed those offers a Chinese bid to secure “a foot in the door.”

The territory isn’t a stranger to national security concerns over Chinese influence. Chinese investment in the Nechalacho rare earths project, east of Yellowknife, set off alarm bells a year ago.

Canada’s new Arctic foreign policy promises to provide the GNWT and Indigenous governments “with regular briefings and information on emerging and developing international security trends, including threats affecting the Arctic.”

Doing so will ensure that regional governments “are equipped to support communities in Canada’s Arctic and North and to make informed decisions about the security of their communities,” the policy adds.

The policy also says cyber security will be upgraded, “including in the Arctic, to protect northern communities against foreign interference.”

(The territory has been a victim of ransomware in the past, and China is notorious for its attempts – often successful – to digitally infiltrate other nations’ critical systems.)

Investment in research

Researchers in the NWT – or with an interest in it – look set to benefit from a federal desire to encourage Arctic research with “a national security lens.”

Global Affairs Canada said it would support other departments and agencies to encourage more “research that can be considered dual use.” The phrase “dual use,” in this context, normally means something that has both civilian and military applications.

The Arctic foreign policy also promises to increase federal capacity “to learn about concerns from those on the ground, holding annual round-table meetings on science and research relating to Canada’s Arctic foreign policy priorities.”

Indigenous monitoring and protection

The policy contains a line in which Canada says it will “work with Arctic and northern Indigenous partners to assert shared interests and priorities in the region, such as through partnerships with the Inuit Marine Monitoring Program and the Indigenous Guardians program.”

Like most of the document, this doesn’t come with a detailed explanation or a spending commitment. The policy for the most part serves as a series of statements of intent.

This Arctic foreign policy also promises to work with the United States to resolve a boundary dispute involving the Beaufort Sea (the Harper policy promised the same thing, 15 years ago). That boundary is north of the Yukon and Alaska.

Northern diplomatic and trade presence

Canada says it will open consulates in Anchorage, Alaska and Nuuk, Greenland, to promote the likes of trade and economic ties.

Ramping up that kind of diplomatic presence is designed to create “new opportunities for economic cooperation, scientific collaboration and cultural exchange,” all of which the NWT can reasonably hope to have a role in.

The policy also contains a restatement of Canada’s aim to promote “the trade of, and access to, the seal products of Inuit and other Indigenous peoples in the EU market.”

Speaking with Cabin Radio in September, Joly said European Union bans on seal products were a main concern northerners had raised.

The Arctic Council, another key diplomatic meeting-place involving circumpolar Arctic nations, has been in limbo since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Canada is now promising to “increase our contributions to the Arctic Council to allow for more Canadian engagement and leadership in council projects and greater institutional support for the council, as well as provide funding for innovative Indigenous and youth ideas in the council.”

Canada also says it will support efforts by “northern Indigenous peoples to increase their representation at relevant international forums,” while Global Affairs Canada will “establish a paid Arctic and northern Indigenous youth internship program” to increase Indigenous perspectives within the department. There will be more opportunities for the GNWT and Indigenous governments to join Canadian delegations at bilateral and international Arctic meetings and negotiations.

More: Read Canada’s Arctic foreign policy in full

Lastly, the position of Canadian ambassador to the Arctic will be created.

That ambassador will have an office in the North, which represents an opportunity for an NWT community to host that office.

The ambassador will be “Canada’s senior Arctic official” with responsibility for advancing Canada’s polar interests, engaging with the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic and “raising awareness internationally of Indigenous rights in the Arctic context.”