Development in Canadian Arctic lags behind other northern regions: think tank
An international affairs think tank says economic development in Canada’s Arctic is falling far behind that in northern regions in other parts of the world.
“There’s just no sign of the vision and long-term political energy required to bring us up in any way close to the gap that’s emerging with Russia and Norway as the Arctic Ocean opens,” said John Higginbotham of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
The centre is holding a panel at a conference in Ottawa this week with the premiers of Canada’s three northern territories and top officials from Alaska and Greenland. Higginbotham said its purpose is to draw attention to how far North America lags behind Europe and Asia in developing its Arctic regions.
“In Norway, the North is the first thing they think about in the morning and the last thing they think of at night. It’s probably the same for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” said Higginbotham, who authored a study for the centre on how different countries regard their Arctic regions.