Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship

Global warming has had a dramatic impact on the Arctic environment, including the ice melt that has opened previously ice-covered waterways. State and non-state actors who look to the region and its resources with varied agendas have started to pay attention. Do new geopolitical dynamics point to a competitive and inherently conflictual “race for resources”? Or will the Arctic become a region governed by mutual benefit, international law, and the achievement of a widening array of cooperative arrangements among interested states and Indigenous peoples?

As an Arctic nation Canada is not immune to the consequences of these transformations. In Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship, the authors, all leading commentators on Arctic affairs, grapple with fundamental questions about how Canada should craft a responsible and effective Northern strategy. They outline diverse paths to achieving sovereignty, security, and stewardship in Canada’s Arctic and in the broader circumpolar world.

The changing Arctic region presents Canadians with daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities. This book will inspire continued debate on what Canada must do to protect its interests, project its values, and play a leadership role in the twenty-first-century Arctic.

Forewords by Senator Hugh Segal and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of National Defence Bill Graham.

1

Introduction

Franklyn Griffiths, Rob Huebert, and P. Whitney Lackenbauer

The introduction lays out the context for the subsequent chapters, including previous contributions to the debate by the authors, and explains how and why the authors adopted the approaches they did.
2

Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security in a Transforming Circumpolar World

Rob Huebert

In the first section, “Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security in a Transforming Circumpolar World,” Rob Huebert argues that control of the Arctic will yield significant benefit to the country wielding this control. He expects that Canada will have challenges to its Arctic in the future.  Even non-Arctic states such as China, Japan and South Korea have become active in the region. Competing claims vary from resource exploitation and development, to division of the Arctic seabed, to the right of transit in the Northwest Passage. As various actors advance their claims, the potential exists for a serious challenge to Canada’s sovereignty and security in its Arctic.  Huebert lays out what he sees as the essential steps that the Canadian government must take to assert control over the region, enforce its claims, and cooperate better with its Arctic neighbours to develop an international framework that will serve as a guideline for rules of engagement.

3

From Polar Race to Polar Saga: An Integrated Strategy for Canada and the Circumpolar World

P. Whitney Lackenbauer

In the second section, P. Whitney Lackenbauer suggests a different emphasis, with Canada reining in its alarmist rhetoric about alleged sovereignty and security threats. He argues that there is no “Arctic race” and solutions to boundary disputes will be negotiated, not won or lost through military posturing.  To devise a more confident and constructive Arctic strategy, Canada needs to marry its defence and resource development agenda with stronger diplomatic and social dimensions. A 3-D (defence-diplomacy-development) approach that recognizes the possibility for international cooperation, fixates less on potential “sovereignty loss” and encourages sustainable socio-economic development will place Canada in a better position to seize opportunities and become a world leader in circumpolar affairs.  He suggests that the problems in the Arctic cannot be resolved by a return to Cold War rhetoric and reactive, crisis-based mentality, which will preclude Canada from seizing opportunities in collaboration with northern residents. Canadians must recognize with confidence that our sovereignty is not in serious jeopardy, thanks to quiet diplomacy that has historically balanced continental security priorities with national interests. What Canada can anticipate and should seek is not an “Arctic race” but an “Arctic Saga,” predicated on a greater demand for resources and trade coupled with more stable governance. This Saga could be attained by focusing on sustainable development, constructive circumpolar engagement and environmental protection, without sacrificing either sovereignty or security.

4

Towards a Canadian Arctic Strategy

Franklyn Griffiths

Franklyn Griffiths, in the third and final section “Towards a Canadian Arctic Strategy,” describes how climate change, the prospect of easier access and transit, and the expectation of long term growth in global demand for oil and gas have evoked unprecedented interest from the world at large and particularly the eight nations of the region: Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States. While the strategic significance of the Arctic is increasing rapidly, Canada has no strategy for the region in its entirety. Griffiths details such a strategy, one that strives to channel the unfolding story of the region in a direction that mutes conflict and enables all to exercise due care in the exploitation and enjoyment of a shared natural environment. No way stinting on the need to ensure sovereign possession, a Canadian Arctic strategy will strive for cooperative stewardship throughout the region. Given that the prerequisites for region-wide cooperation are in short supply, Canada will strive to create them by elevating Arctic international relations from the official to the highest political level, by engaging first the United States and then the Russian Federation in a strategy of stewardship and by invigorating regional governance, which is to say the Arctic Council.  In all of this, the Prime Minister is urged to take personal responsibility not only for Canada’s Northern development but for Canada’s future as an Arctic nation among other nations and indeed non-Arctic nations as well.

5

Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship: An Update

P. Whitney Lackenbauer

The conclusions outline the government’s Northern Strategy, unveiled in July 2009, as well as subsequent domestic and international developments related to the Arctic up to and including the release of the Statement on Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy in August 2010 (which is included as an appendix).  Rather than trying to arrive at a “consensus” on what should be done, the authors invite ongoing debate among Canadians as to what exactly we should be doing in our own front yard and the region beyond in an era of rapid change.