When it comes to the feds and the Arctic, getting ducks in a row and talking to people where they live is too often an afterthought.
Just as Northern leaders were surprised and perplexed when Justin Trudeau announced a moratorium on Arctic drilling shortly after becoming prime minister in 2015, last's week announcement of a new federal Arctic region stunned many people who ought to have been in the loop.
Fisheries and Coast Guard Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, along with some Coast Guard and DFO brass flew all the way to Inuvik for the announcement. This new Arctic region separates federal administration of Northern waters from southern jurisdictions with an aim to give Indigenous groups more say in decision-making. The new region follows the traditional area of the four regions of the Inuit Nunangat from northern Labrador to the Beaufort Delta.
“We are committed to fostering a new Indigenous-to-Crown relationship that recognizes the importance of the Arctic, Indigenous knowledge and Northern priorities,” said Minister Wilkinson.
So who to invite to Inuvik then? Well, we got the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Check. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Check. Dene Nation, territorial government? Oops.
No sooner had Wilkinson made his announcement toward fostering a “relationship based on mutual respect” had Dene Nation National Chief Norman Yakeleya dropped a cannonball through the bow of his rowboat.
“The Dene are also people of the North, so we are questioning why we've been left out of this process,” fired Yakeleya in a news release. “Treaty 11 extends right to the Arctic Ocean.”
And so does the government of the Northwest Territories.
The confusion dribbled into the legislative assembly Oct. 29 where a perplexed Hay River North MLA R.J. Simpson wondered why the NWT's Coast Guard headquarters appeared to all of sudden be moving from Hay River to Yellowknife.
Infrastructure Minister Wally Schumann responded that he was not aware of any consultations between the DFO and his department about this new region.
As the Northwest Territories developed politically and legislatively and Indigenous groups likewise sought more sovereignty over their lands and their lives, the promise from Ottawa has always been for more autonomy.
Yet, the feds just can't seem to help themselves. They pick who they think they should be speaking too from far away Ottawa and ignore the good and proper instinct to seek input from the area.
In 2014, former premier Stephen Kakfwi wrote in an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail: “The NWT has a strong, diverse people who have overcome huge obstacles in the last 40 years while preparing for economic development on our own terms. We have always made it a priority to work together, while moving toward a bright future. I believe our North, where the people have never shied away from the hard work that is needed to create a balanced and inclusive approach to development, that can serve as a model for the rest of Canada.”
And so it should. Wilkinson is going to have to plug the hole in his boat and play damage control now.
Hopefully, he will chalk this up as one of those teachable moments and not step back into the "old days when Ottawa imposed decisions on the North with no consultation” as Simpson stated in the legislative assembly last month.