‘Canada’s sovereignty and security depend on strong communities’

As the federal government commits billions in defence spending in the North, an advocacy group for Canadian municipalities says investments need to directly benefit communities.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, or FCM, released a new report this week titled The Future of Northern and Arctic Canada.

Based on engagement with local leaders across the North, the report advocates for long-term partnerships between federal, municipal and Indigenous governments to close gaps in the North and deliver lasting benefits for northerners.

“Across northern and remote regions, local governments are on the front lines of nation‑building every day,” Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa, chair of FCM’s northern and remote forum, stated in a news release.

“Canada’s sovereignty and security depend on strong communities, including housing, infrastructure, energy, and the capacity of local governments to deliver.”

The report argues that if the federal government’s efforts to increase Arctic sovereignty focus solely on military spending, Ottawa will “miss the big picture.”

As a cautionary tale, the report points to Canada’s past efforts to assert sovereignty in the Arctic following World War Two – which involved the forced relocation of Indigenous people with limited resources. “Mere presence” is not sufficient to achieve sovereignty, which relies on “thriving, healthy and prosperous” communities, the report states.

The report highlights longstanding challenges in the North including high costs, food insecurity, infrastructure deficits, a lack of housing, and service gaps amid rising geopolitical tensions and increasing climate disasters.

FCM is calling for the federal government to take action to address those gaps, stressing the need for partnership with Indigenous peoples and for local governments to be fully integrated into planning and decisions.

“Healthy and strong communities in the North and Arctic make Canada better as a whole,” said FCM president Rebecca Bligh.

“At a time of heightened global uncertainty, partnership with Canada’s northern local governments will strengthen communities across the region and help advance a more sovereign, resilient economy.”

Recommended actions outlined in the report focus on four main themes: social well-being, infrastructure and transportation, climate change and the environment, and sovereignty and security.

They include calls for the federal government to build new housing, fund housing repairs, make the Reaching Home program permanent with increased funding, invest in digital infrastructure, and complete an external review of Nutrition North.

The report further advocates for defence investments to benefit communities and funding for roads, ports, airports, water systems and community facilities.

It also calls on Canada to maintain climate and emissions reductions goals, invest in local climate adaptation, continue efforts to transition communities away from diesel, and enhance search and rescue and emergency response capabilities.

Will promised investments benefit communities?

Calls for investment in northern communities, and for northerners to be involved in decision-making in the region, are not new. But is the federal government listening?

Designating Yellowknife and Inuvik as northern operational support hubs in 2025, the Canadian government committed to building dual-use infrastructure where possible.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada plans to invest $35 billion in Arctic defence, largely on expanding forward operating locations in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Iqaluit, and Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador.

While still in the early stages, the Department of National Defence has said it plans to spend between $5 billion and $8 billion in Yellowknife to extend the runways at the airport, build new hangars to accommodate military aircraft and construct barracks for military staff, among other efforts to support northern expansion of the Canadian Armed Forces over the next 14 years.

The department is planning a similar expansion at Inuvik’s airport.

The Canadian government has said it will likely support power, water and sewer upgrades to ensure those military expansions do not “become a burden on the day-to-day life” of northerners.

Carney has also referred the NWT’s proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway, Taltson hydro expansion, and Arctic Economic and Security Corridor to the Major Projects Office, while a $1-billion federal Arctic Infrastructure Fund for dual-use transportation infrastructure projects opened for proposals in March.

Municipal and territorial leaders have expressed excitement about the promised investment and what it could mean for the North.

Others are more skeptical.

Some community members at a town hall with national defence officials in Yellowknife last month questioned how much of that money will stay in the North, while calling for stronger commitments to address the housing crisis and gaps in healthcare services, among other concerns.