THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE ARCTIC
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Wednesday, December 13, 2017
The Special Committee on the Arctic met this day at 12:00 p.m., pursuant to rule 12-13, for the purpose of organization.
[Translation]
Mark Palmer, Acting Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, we have a quorum. As clerk of the committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair.
[English]
I am ready to receive a motion to that effect. Senator Patterson.
Senator Patterson: I move that Senator Charlie Watt be appointed as Chair of the Special Committee on the Arctic.
Mr. Palmer: Are there any other nominations?
Senator Eaton: I second it.
Mr. Palmer: It is moved by Honourable Senator Patterson that the Honourable Senator Watt take the chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Palmer: I declare the motion carried. I invite Honourable Senator Watt to take the chair.
Senator Charlie Watt (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: Thank you.
Do we have a nomination for the deputy chair?
Senator Bovey: I nominate Senator Patterson.
Senator Eaton: I second the nomination.
The Chair: Thank you.
Is it agreed that Senator Patterson be the deputy chair of the committee?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Senator Patterson: Thank you.
The Chair: You have the agenda. I’m going to go by the numbers to try to speed the process up as much as possible.
Number 3, the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.
Senator Bovey: I so move.
The Chair: Do we need a seconder?
Mr. Palmer: We don’t need a seconder.
Senator Bovey: This says it is to be designated. Our group is designating it now. That is my expectation.
Senator Eaton: Okay.
The Chair: Is everybody in agreement?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Number 4 is a motion to publish the committee’s proceedings.
Senator Patterson: So moved.
The Chair: It is moved by Dennis Patterson.
Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Item No. 5, research staff.
May I have a mover? Dennis Patterson.
Is everybody agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: No. 6 is the authority to commit funds and certify accounts. Can I have a mover?
It is moved by Senator Bovey. Is everybody in agreement?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Item No. 7, travel.
Senator Neufeld: So moved.
The Chair: Moved by Senator Neufeld.
Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Item No. 8 is the designation of members travelling on committee business.
Senator Eaton: So moved.
The Chair: Moved by Senator Eaton.
Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Item No. 9 is the travelling and living expenses of witnesses. Can I have a mover?
Senator Oh: I so move.
The Chair: Agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Item No. 10 is broadcasting.
It is moved by Senator McPhedran.
Is everybody in agreement?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Agreed. We’re done.
Honourable senators, I would like to indicate the reason why we set up this special committee. It is to focus on the Arctic and the people living there. I do believe it’s long overdue. I think we can do good work in this field. As much as possible, I would like to focus on substantive issues and not be driven from a curiosity perspective. The reason I say this is because I’ve been here for a long time, and I find that we have been wasting a lot of our time, good money and energy. If it’s possible, I would like to narrow it down to the point of what we need to discuss rather than wasting our time fact finding and things of that nature. But if we need to go through that, that’s fine.
Senator Patterson and I have worked hard to bring this committee into being because we know that there are unique challenges faced by northerners every day. We hope this committee will serve as a vehicle to address those complex issues and propose a way forward.
I strongly believe that Arctic sovereignty should be the first overarching theme that this committee explores. Under this umbrella, we can explore issues such as how climate change is impacting land claim agreements, the fish and oil and gas moratorium, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Nutrition North Canada, to name a few. To carry out our responsibilities, I think we need to have a broad statement.
I believe that Senator Patterson has something to say on that.
Senator Patterson: Mr. Chair, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as chair. You’re a long-standing resident of the Arctic, and you have played a major role in the settlement of the first major land claim in the Inuit world. I look forward to working with you. I would like to thank committee members for their support for my being your deputy chair.
I would like to echo what Senator Watt has said and state my support for the approach that he has outlined. Because of the complexity and broadness of the term “Arctic sovereignty,” I think it will be important for us to explore the different facets of this issue. This will help us, as Senator Watt has said, to propose a way forward.
Do we need to modernize treaties and agreements in the Arctic? Has Canada lived up to its treaty obligations? How do we reaffirm Canada’s ownership of the Northwest Passage? How do we manage the offshore? These are questions that I personally would like to see us consider in this committee, and I hope that all senators here will agree with this approach.
May I just say, Mr. Chair, that we all know that, shortly, the Senate is breaking for Christmas and into the new year, so I look forward to working with you and members of the steering committee so that come the resumption of the Senate in the new year, we can be organized and ready to start working on these major issues and get a good running start.
The Chair: Thank you. During the Christmas holidays, I know that you will busy with your own personal matters and so on. Nevertheless, it also provides the opportunity to look at the work to be carried out in the future, and I do appreciate that. I am sure that each of us will put some time into that, even though the Christmas holiday is important to our families. I am glad you mentioned the fact that this is important, and I do appreciate your input. Let’s see what we can do from here.
(The committee adjourned.)