Honourable senators, I rose yesterday to speak to Senator Bovey’s inquiry that calls upon the Senate to renew and further our interest in Arctic issues and to support her suggestion that we consider establishing a committee of some complexion — probably a special committee — to continue the important work of our previous committee.

Today, I will wrap up the case I was making by first quoting again the four remarkable Arctic women leaders I mentioned yesterday.

Nunavik’s Sheila Watt-Cloutier, former International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and author of The Right to be Cold, said:

For the Inuit, ice is much more than frozen water, it is our highways, our training ground and our life force.

She also says:

If you protect the Arctic, you save the planet. What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Everything is connected through our common atmosphere, not to mention our common spirit and our common humanity.

Fellow Nunavik leader, Mary Simon, published her report in 2017 on a New Shared Arctic Leadership Model. In the report, Mary Simon said:

I heard repeated accounts of the impact of a warming Arctic on food security, infrastructure, housing, and safety on the land and sea. The message was very clear: an adaptation strategy and implementation plan for the Arctic must become a national priority within Canada’s climate change commitments.

Aluki Kotierk, President of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., recently wrote to me in an email:

I am glad to hear you’re working to revive the special committee on the Arctic. The Arctic is part of Canada. It has the longest Canadian coastline and has an incredibly deep imprint on the Canadian identity. Inuit have contributed as human flagpoles to Canadian sovereignty, and Canada takes pride in symbols of identity that come from Inuit culture, such as the inukshuk, kayak, etc.

She continues:

Inuit are Canadians, yet the social determinants of health indicate that Inuit fall far below other Canadians in terms of food security, high school graduation, health access, employment numbers, etc and are much higher in terms of suicides completed, incarceration, violence, etc. This requires special attention to be able to address these issues face on and ensure that all Canadians are able to enjoy the same standards.

We know that 7 out of 10 Inuit children go to bed hungry every night, and so we need to see the growth in economy translate into the pockets of the Inuit.

Another Arctic woman leader, Caroline Cochrane, Premier of the Northwest Territories, said:

I came to the table looking at not only what we could do for the North, but also what the North can do for the rest of Canada.

Let’s think about that.

Colleagues, we have the new Canada’s Arctic and Northern Policy Framework with its eight goals, which I mentioned yesterday. It will guide the federal government’s investments and activities over the next 10 years. The framework was shaped through a collaborative process, and the intention is to realize its vision, and implement its goals and objectives by working in partnership. This will be critical. There will need to be an ongoing commitment to that open cooperation, as well as very significant financial investments.

On our Senate Arctic Committee study visit to Nunavik, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon — we failed to land in Nain, Nunatsiavut, due to fog — but we heard over and over no matter where we were that self-determination and community-based decision-making are the keys to success.

The in-the-North, by-the-North, for-the-North mantra resonated loudly, whether we were meeting with Inuit, First Nations, Métis or non-Indigenous residents of the Arctic.

We also heard over and over that “youth are our biggest asset.”

The new framework states that:

Canada sees a future in which the people of the Arctic and North are full participants in Canadian society, with access to the same services, opportunities and standards of living as those enjoyed by other Canadians. This ambition will require greater effort, focus, trust and collaboration amongst partners.

The people of the Arctic are calling for transformative change to close the many gaps and to further achieve their own diverse and ambitious visions. Colleagues, there is an important role for us to play in ensuring the new framework attains its goals and in accompanying our Arctic neighbours in pursuing their ambitions. A special Senate committee on the Arctic would be an appropriate and useful vehicle for the Senate of Canada to take up this task and demonstrate our commitment. I hope you will all agree.

Nakurmiik. Qujannamik. Ma’na. Quana. Quayanaini. Kooyanine ee. Thank you.