Competing designers named for Canada’s national monument to Afghanistan mission
The five groups that are competing to design Canada’s national monument to the Afghanistan mission have been revealed. The five potential design groups come from all across Canada. Potential bidders include a group led by Montreal-based architectural firm Daoust Lestage, which is joined by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, who is serving as a […]
Canada needs to protect Arctic sovereignty to confront emboldened Putin, say MP and expert
As President Vladimir Putin has solidified his grip on Russian leadership for the next 16 years, a Liberal MP says that Canada needs to prepare for the threat of Moscow’s influence in the Arctic, while a former aide to past foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion says Canada needs to begin dialogue with Russia. A referendum […]
The lessons of COVID-19 and international co-operation in the Arctic
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a game changer in many aspects. Firstly, this epidemiology drama has tested our practical resilience to tangible global threats. The leaders and national health systems of various states were prepared (or unprepared) differently for dealing with new realities; and the figures of those infected, tested, recovered, and deceased speak for […]
Open and honest dialogue with Indigenous communities guide COVID-19 response
First Nations, Inuit, and Métis face unprecedented and unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant socio-economic and health gaps put them at greater risk during these hard times. Regular, open, and honest dialogue with Indigenous leaders has guided and strengthened Canada’s approach to this pandemic, starting with the National Health Emergency Management Network, which was […]
COVID-19 has made the North’s quest for equality a steeper climb
Even before COVID-19, Canada’s northern territories faced significant social, economic, and environmental challenges that create persistent gaps and inequalities between northerners and their fellow Canadians. Most troubling, are those challenges that keep our residents from truly thriving as people, like a critical lack of affordable housing, access to health care and education, and limited opportunities […]
Arctic research in Canada is adapting under COVID-19 restrictions
Travel restrictions and new research protocols have halted southern-based and international scientists from heading to Canada’s Arctic this summer to conduct their annual field seasons, but it has not halted all research and monitoring activities. COVID-19 restrictions will create notable holes in fundamental multi-year datasets, impact national and international project deliverables, delay research priorities, impose […]
Canada’s wide-ranging northern response to COVID-19
Canada’s Arctic and northern regions cover almost 40 per cent of Canada’s overall land mass. The health and safety of those who live and work in the North and isolated communities are our top priority. From Day 1, my colleagues and I have been in regular contact with territorial and provincial governments and First Nation, […]
COVID-19 exposes risks of social and economic inequity
The threat of COVID-19 and its potentially devastating impacts on Inuit Nunangat communities has put the daily vulnerabilities of Inuit families into focus for governments in a new way. Although sadly, it has taken a global pandemic to generate new attention and focus on long-overlooked challenges such as tuberculosis, crowded housing, violence, and limited access […]
Does a global pandemic signal the need for adjusted approaches to Arctic research?
I must admit, it’s not the sort of thing I ever really considered. I’ve been an environmental scientist working in Arctic Canada for 20 years. Much of my lab’s research takes place in Nunavut, at some of the most remote, picturesque, and harsh locations imaginable. We work collaboratively with federal departments and northern communities to […]
Canada and the EU in the Arctic: a region for enhanced co-operation
Over the past decade, the level of international attention paid to the Arctic has grown exponentially. Where interest in these regions was previously very much the business of the eight Arctic states, the threats brought by climate change, coupled with geopolitical shifts and the potential exploitation of significant resources on land, at sea, and under […]
