Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to the inquiry that Senator Bovey launched to renew and further the Senate’s interest in Arctic issues through the establishment of a Senate Arctic committee. The committee would continue the integral work of the Special Senate Committee on the Arctic of the Forty-second Parliament.

I want to acknowledge that we meet here today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg. I rise as a member of the Special Senate Committee on the Arctic, as an Inuvialuk from the Arctic and as the senator for the Northwest Territories. The region I represent has a population of 44,895 in 33 communities within an area of approximately 1.3 million square kilometres. It has 11 official languages, and 50% of the population is Indigenous.

In contrast to Southern Canada, in the Northwest Territories, we are grappling with growing disparities in food security, housing, education and health care. We have an overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the justice and child and family services systems. These issues are long standing. They are the legacy of federal colonial policies and systemic racism.

These issues have become even more evident during this period of lockdown and physical distancing due to COVID-19. In all 33 communities, overcrowded housing, limited access to hospitals and specialized health care, a population with overall increased vulnerability to respiratory illnesses, and a reliance on air carriers for community resupply and medical travel made COVID-19 a terrifying prospect.

In order to protect N.W.T. residents, the territorial government closed its borders to all nonessential travel on March 21. The border remains closed, with some exceptions. Mandatory isolation centres, where incoming travellers are required to quarantine for 14 days, were established in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River and Fort Smith to prevent contagion in the smaller, remote communities.

While the lockdown that accompanied these measures has been successful in containing the spread of COVID-19 in N.W.T. — the territory’s five confirmed cases have been resolved — it has had significant impacts on the territory’s economy. Natural resource extraction and tourism are key drivers of our GDP, and although lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease, both of these sectors operate during our very short, intense summer season, which is already underway. It is unlikely that these businesses will scale up to their full operations before 2021.

I should also mention that even with the gradual reopening of the territory, N.W.T. residents’ fears of a global pandemic are by no means diminished. Our elders remember the last time this happened. In the summer of 1928, a Hudson’s Bay Company supply ship, the SS Distributor, made its annual trip down the Mackenzie River and spread a deadly strain of influenza. The resulting epidemic killed 10 to 15% of the territory’s Indigenous population, with remote camps being hit the hardest. According to our stories, in some places there was no one left to bury the dead.

Alongside this new ongoing public health risk, we face rapid changes to our land caused by climate change. Our community members and scientists are reporting the receding and thinning of sea ice, making winter travel unpredictable. Rapidly melting permafrost threatens our communities, our infrastructure, our way of life and the safety of our people. In my home community of Tuktoyaktuk, we are already being forced to adapt our subsistence hunting and gathering lifestyle due to lack of the ice and the abundance of salmon, once foreign to our fish nets, that are appearing in our Arctic waters.

Across the N.W.T. we are already addressing the threats to our community infrastructure. This spring, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Tuktoyaktuk’s Hamlet Council had to relocate four privately owned homes because the land was eroding underneath their piling foundations. This is a new reality for Tuktoyaktuk. Sea levels are rising and the land where Tuktoyaktuk is located is subsiding. Projections show the community will be almost completely underwater in 80 years without human intervention.

Across the Northwest Territories, we are seeing shorter winter road seasons; the start of the ice road season is often delayed and the end of the season is increasingly unpredictable. Not only do isolated communities rely on ice roads for their annual resupply, the ice road season is a busy time of travel between communities. However, it is increasingly dangerous. In recent years, vehicles have gone through the ice and travellers have been stranded in the mud hundreds of kilometres away from any community when the roads have suddenly closed.

The challenges we face are daunting. The lives of the Indigenous people of the Arctic are shaped by a history of colonization, disenfranchisement, suppression and assimilation. Despite this, we have not lost sight of our culture, our creativity, our resilience, our humour, our innovative spirit and our determination. We have always demanded to be active participants in our own narrative, to challenge the traditional image and discourse around the Arctic. We demand to be a part of the solution to bridge the socio-economic gaps within the rest of Canada.

How did the Arctic and North come to be a part of Canada? The Rupert’s Land Act of 1868 saw the Northwest Territories bought for £300,000 and 20% of the territory’s arable land by the Dominion of Canada from the Hudson’s Bay Company. At the time, this area consisted of the Prairie provinces, parts of northern Quebec, northern Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. By 1870, the transfer became official and the title passed to Canada. The Indigenous people of the land, including the Inuit, First Nations, and Métis, were not consulted.

Interestingly enough, a senator was the impetus for the next stage in Canadian history. In 1888, with the discovery of oil reserves and minerals within the Arctic, Senator John C. Schultz triggered a plan for developing the area to supply the needs of the rest of Canada. At a Senate meeting in March 1888, Senator Schultz moved that a select committee be struck to inquire as to the value of a vast region:

 . . . lying north of the Saskatchewan watershed, east of the Rocky Mountains, and west of Hudson’s Bay, comprising the Great Mackenzie Basin . . . .

Thus began the involvement of the federal government, led by the Senate, in the Arctic and Northern Canada. As a direct result of the findings of the report of the select committee, historic treaties were sought and signed with the Indigenous peoples across Rupert’s Land.

Despite this display of interest from the South, federal policy in the Arctic and regarding Inuit in particular was haphazard as best. In 1923, an amendment to the Indian Act brought 6,538 “Eskimo” under the charge of the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs. Before this time, Inuit had not been under the administration of any government department. By 1930, this was repealed and the Inuit fell under the responsibility of the Department of the Interior, but it was expected that the Quebec government would help to fund relief programming for Inuit, as it was the only province inhabited by Inuit.

In 1935, the Quebec government brought the question of responsibility to the Supreme Court, where it was argued that Inuit were Indians under the Constitution Act, 1867. On April 5, 1939, Inuit were classified as Indians in Canada. For decades, Indigenous people of the Arctic have been subject to legislation and policies developed in the South, which govern our lives and alters our history. It is well past time that Northerners be involved in decisions that impact us.

Honourable senators, towards the end of the last Parliament, it seemed to me that there was a small but growing awareness here in Ottawa of the importance of northern engagement in policy and decision-making on a federal level. The special Senate committee on the Arctic’s report Northern Lights: A Wake-Up Call for the Future of Canada explicitly highlighted the importance of northern decision-making for Northerners. Canada’s new Arctic and Northern Policy Framework was developed with this in mind. Let us not stop at a small awareness; let us move towards active inclusion and engagement.

Both the special committee report and the Arctic Policy Framework take a broad approach to defining the Arctic and Northern Canada. The region encompasses the three territories, as well as the entirety of Inuit Nunangat, the Inuvialuit settlement region in the Northwest Territories, Labrador’s Nunatsiavut region and the territory of Nunavik in Quebec. Our committee report and the Arctic Policy Framework identify many of the same key priorities, including addressing socio-economic disparity; strengthening infrastructure; building strong, sustainable and diversified economies; aligning science and Indigenous knowledge; strengthening safety, security and defence; addressing climate change; and achieving self-determination.

Honourable senators, these documents contain the voices of those who live, work, survive, fight and struggle to bring equality to the Arctic, the North and its people. As senators, I believe we have an important role to play in listening to and amplifying the voices of Northerners; a role that defies and challenges the historic role of the Senate in Canada’s colonial policies. In 1970, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau stated:

We can’t in one year undo the injustices or misunderstandings of a hundred or two hundred years of history, and certainly we can’t do it alone.

Collectively, we have the power to reshape the way in which the federal government interacts with the North. It is long past time that decision makers in Ottawa not only be concerned with what the Arctic can do for Canada, but what Canada can do for the Arctic and its residents.

Why is it important for the Senate to maintain a focus on the Arctic? First, the Arctic is on the front lines of the socio-economic impacts of climate change and the opening of the Northwest Passage as a result of climate change, which has spurred international interest in our Arctic waters.

Second, the territories alone represent a vast geographic area encompassing 3.9 million square kilometres, making up nearly 40% of Canada’s landmass and 162,000 kilometres of its coastline. In this chamber, three senators represent three territories and 66 communities. No matter how loud our voices, this places northern interests at a natural disadvantage when it comes to raising awareness and advocacy on behalf of our vast region.

Third, the Arctic is central to the evolution of government-to-government relationships. The region is home to many modern treaty signatories and several self-government and land claim agreements are under negotiation across the region.

Finally, on a personal note, I can’t help being disappointed with the lack of knowledge about the North, its people, our history and our current circumstances. Despite the North being a key piece of our national identity, it is easy to ignore or forget those of us who live there.

Since my appointment, I have learned that Canada’s northern identity is an idea of that North that has been absorbed by the South. When it is reflected back to us, the identity is almost unrecognizable to northerners.

The North feels very different from the South. I can tell you that the disparity between the Arctic and Southern Canada continues to grow. It almost feels like I’m in a different country when I arrive here in Ottawa. I believe this difference is impossible to understand unless you have lived there. This is why it is so important that we create space in Ottawa where northern voices can not only be heard but be an impetus for historic change.

Honourable colleagues, as I stand here before you, I am resolved in my belief that Canada’s interest in the Arctic must be reflected in a mutually beneficial relations hip between the North and the South. The Arctic is fundamental to Canada’s national identity and its residents are critical to Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.

Most important, to those who live in the Arctic, it is our home. The Arctic has sustained us for thousands of years and is intrinsic to who we are in all aspects of our lives. This is a reciprocal relationship, and we are as responsible for the survival of the Arctic — its waters, lands, animals and plants — as it is to us.

According to the “Fundamentals of Senate Committees” on the Senate website, “A special committee is established to undertake a study on a particular issue or to study a specific piece of legislation.”

Colleagues, we do not need a further study. We need a standing or joint committee that would have a broader lens and allow us to be proactive, to actively seek input from northerners and to apply what we already know and utilize in our work to ensure that all peoples in Canada are treated equally.

If the challenges facing the Arctic are to be addressed, we need to create a space at the federal level to build these relationships and actively seek viable solutions. To do this, there must be true engagement and a concerted effort among federal, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous governments. This includes us.

Ironically, 132 years after Senator Schultz sought a select committee to examine what the Arctic could do for Canada, I stand today seeking support for an Arctic committee that works for both northerners and Canada. We are uniquely placed to be able to create a space for a holistic, inclusive approach to northern issues that can shape our debates and legislation and which, in turn, can positively impact the Arctic, the North, its people and Canada. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

I look forward to your support moving forward. Quyanainni. Quana. Thank you.