Aboriginal education funding ‘10 years late’: Martin
The federal government has been praised for recently-announced investments in aboriginal education in this year’s federal budget, but the initiative is “10 years late,” says former prime minister Paul Martin, who struck his own agreement with Canada’s aboriginal peoples in 2005 only to have it abandoned after the Conservatives formed government the […]
National youth unemployment figures mask major regional disparities
Canada may boast a below average youth unemployment rate compared to its OECD counterparts, but the national average is hiding significant disparities between regions and social groups. The national unemployment rate for workers aged 15 to 24 was 13.6 per cent last year, but Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and […]
Real threat to Arctic sovereignty is Canada
Conservative Arctic policy has recently come to the forefront, as Canada took over the two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council last year. To no one’s surprise, Prime Minister Stephen Harper explicitly declared resource development to be the guiding focus of Canada’s chairmanship, while all but completely ignoring the alarming consequences of climate change for […]
Natural Resource documents highlight major obstacles to northern oil and gas development
Recently-released documents from last summer’s Energy and Mines Ministers Conference in Yellowknife, N.W.T. highlight major obstacles to developing the North’s vast hydrocarbon reserves. Discussion papers and briefing notes prepared for federal, provincial and territorial resource ministers for last year’s conference identify infrastructure shortages within the territories and to international markets as serious obstacles to […]
Rising cost of food in the North a big problem
I have been blessed with the good fortune of being born and raised in Northern Canada. Labrador has always been my home, and it truly is a special place. Over the years, in my travels throughout the territories and other northern regions, I witnessed the strength and resilience of the people who work hard every […]
Feds place northerners on an unsustainable path
The Conservative policy towards the Arctic can be summed up as, “accelerated resource exploitation.” Unfortunately, this policy will play out in the continuation of the well-known northern cycle of boom and bust economies and these are not sustainable in the long run. In the Northwest Territories, a decade-long resource boom has actually led to […]
Bill C-15 to transfer onshore resource management to N.W.T.
The 2013 year-end media accounts of the mining industry’s experience in Canada and internationally were, by and large, not very encouraging. In Canada, cautious investors and market uncertainty; complex, costly, and time-consuming government regulations; aboriginal and environmental opposition; and, the high cost of operation in remote regions of our country all contributed to a […]
It’s responsible resource development
Canada’s North holds tremendous economic development potential for the benefit of Northerners, and indeed for all Canadians. Opportunities lie in a wide range of economic sectors—from tourism and arts and culture, to small businesses and a growing fishery in Nunavut. One sector with some of the greatest potential is resource development. In fact, increasingly […]
Feds recognize importance of conserving our lands, rich biodiversity
As a father, there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with my family outdoors. I believe it is essential for my children to connect with nature so that they learn to respect and appreciate our beautiful country. That’s why I am proud to be part of a government that recognizes the importance […]
Yukon ‘a poster child’ for climate change, says Conservative MP Leef
The federal government takes a lot of heat from the opposition for its climate policies and cuts to federal environmental research, but Yukon Conservative MP Ryan Leef says that the reputation is undeserved. “Nobody is denying climate change at all. We’re saying, flat out, we believe that the path we’re taking, that differs from […]
