World ambassadors discuss Arctic potential on tour of Canada’s North

Ambassadors from more than 20 nations arrived in Yellowknife this week as they begin a 10-day tour of northern Canada.

Diplomats representing nations stretching from Finland to Kenya and Argentina to New Zealand will also visit Délı̨nę, Resolute, Iqaluit and Whitehorse before their federally arranged tour ends on June 29.

“I’m really resonating with the people already,” said Hanna-Leena Korteniemi, Finland’s ambassador to Canada, who spoke with attendees at a Thursday reception in Yellowknife about the similarity between Canada and her home country.

“I had a very good conversation talking about the Northern Lights, mosquitoes, rolling in the snow,” said Korteniemi.

Federal agency Global Affairs Canada organizes occasional tours like this so foreign heads of mission can learn more about Canada’s North. Northern tours began in the 1970s and now take place every couple of years.

“I love Ottawa, but it’s not Canada,” said Sébastien Carrière, Global Affairs’ chief of protocol of Canada.

“This is a big place, big country, and there are opportunities for their countries and for us everywhere. So they have to get out there.”

‘It’s not tourism, it’s us learning’

With new geopolitical interests forming in the Arctic, Swedish ambassador Signe Burgstaller said it’s “very important” to learn more about northern Canada.

“We share similar situations and outlook and interest to preserve the Arctic as a low tension area. And for me to come here and learn more about how Canada approaches the new situation in Arctic is very, very valuable,” said Burgstaller.

Korteniemi highlighted similarities in climate between Yellowknife and Finland, expressing interest in understanding the “unpredictable” effects of climate change on the Canadian North – and “concrete projects” that could be explored between Canada and Finland.

“There’s a lot of things that resonate between our two countries and regions,” said Korteniemi.

“It’s important to understand what the effects of climate change are, for example, here in Yellowknife. Obviously, we’re also seeing this in Finland, how the winters are getting warmer, but at the same time they can be even harsher. They’re so unpredictable right now.”

British High Commissioner to Canada Rob Tinline told Cabin Radio he was looking forward to exploring a new part of Canada.

“It’s lovely to be up here. It’s a completely different part of Canada and it feels very, very different to Ontario and Quebec and BC,” said Tinline.

“There is something very special about getting as far north as Resolute is,” he added, referring to one of the stops on the tour’s itinerary.

“But a lot of the point of this, is it’s not tourism. It’s us learning about Canada and about a different part of Canada, and about communities and the issues in parts of Canada that you don’t see in Ottawa.”

Tinline said part of the tour’s importance for the United Kingdom is to continue “working across all of Canada with all Canadians.”

“Our two countries have a very long history,” said Tinline.

“There’s many superb things about that, and there’s some things that obviously we reflect on as well. But the relationship between the UK and Canada is really strong. It continues to be strong, but we need to keep investing in it.”

Mayor of Yellowknife Ben Hendriksen, in his opening address, endorsed the territorial capital as a place of “cold-weather innovation, Indigenous-led stewardship and economic development.”

“Yellowknife is becoming more and more of an important link to the North,” the mayor said, “from a Canadian perspective, from a continental perspective and from a global perspective.”

Diplomats on the trip represent Argentina, Cameroon, Cyprus, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom.