Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Canada’s Politics and Government News Source Since 1989

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 | Latest Paper

The North

Liberal MP and doctor Marcus Powlowski continues to practice medicine in his riding of Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ont. ‘I don’t spend a lot of time talking politics when I’m practising medicine. People are happy to see a doctor and I think the lack of primary health care has become so chronic, people don’t usually bother mentioning it,’ he says. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Opinion | BY KEN COATES | December 1, 2025
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said investments announced in the 2025 federal budget will 'create skilled, well-paid jobs, strengthen regional economies, and help Canadian businesses get their goods to new markets,' in a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada press release on Nov. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Paul Irngaut, Nunavut Tunngavik vice president and chair of the Infrastructure and Housing Advisory Committee, holds a press conference in West Block on Oct. 30, 2025, to discuss four Inuit-led major projects and their inclusion in the government’s infrastructure projects of national interest. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | December 1, 2025
Paul Irngaut, Nunavut Tunngavik vice president and chair of the Infrastructure and Housing Advisory Committee, holds a press conference in West Block on Oct. 30, 2025, to discuss four Inuit-led major projects and their inclusion in the government’s infrastructure projects of national interest. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
“The all-season roads, ports, highways, and other trade-enabling infrastructure we build through the fund will spur growth and better connect northern and Indigenous communities to the Canadian economy and the world,” says a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty about the Arctic Infrastructure Fund. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
News | BY JESSE CNOCKAERT | December 1, 2025
“The all-season roads, ports, highways, and other trade-enabling infrastructure we build through the fund will spur growth and better connect northern and Indigenous communities to the Canadian economy and the world,” says a statement from Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty about the Arctic Infrastructure Fund. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the 2025 federal budget on Nov. 4. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Opinion | BY PASCAL CHAN | November 27, 2025
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the 2025 federal budget on Nov. 4. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
After living through generations of Canada’s colonial Arctic policies, Inuit and Nunavummiut are sending a clear message to Parliament that the days of unilateral decision-making in Ottawa are over, writes Lori Idlout. Photograph courtesy of Phil Squires/Flickr
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
Opinion | BY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT | November 19, 2025
After living through generations of Canada’s colonial Arctic policies, Inuit and Nunavummiut are sending a clear message to Parliament that the days of unilateral decision-making in Ottawa are over, writes Lori Idlout. Photograph courtesy of Phil Squires/Flickr
Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane is pictured in Ottawa with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Dec. 5, 2019. Governments in the N.W.T. rely on a collaborative partnership with the federal government. We want to advance priorities that Indigenous leadership, community governments, and residents have identified as important to the future success of our territory, writes Ms. Cochrane. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane is pictured in Ottawa with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Dec. 5, 2019. Governments in the N.W.T. rely on a collaborative partnership with the federal government. We want to advance priorities that Indigenous leadership, community governments, and residents have identified as important to the future success of our territory, writes Ms. Cochrane. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY PAUL QUASSA | December 8, 2021
Nunavut is changing very quickly. Economic development and Inuit freely practicing subsistence hunting can now happen in unison, writes Paul Quassa. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Baffinland Iron Mines
Opinion | BY PAUL QUASSA | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY PAUL QUASSA | December 8, 2021
Nunavut is changing very quickly. Economic development and Inuit freely practicing subsistence hunting can now happen in unison, writes Paul Quassa. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Baffinland Iron Mines
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | December 8, 2021
Harvesting country food continues to be a fundamental part of Inuit traditional knowledge, culture, and survival. Veronica Ell likes to dip her fish in salt water when making pipsi at Duke of York Bay, near Coral Harbour, Nunavut. Photograph courtesy of Elsie Harron
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | December 8, 2021
Harvesting country food continues to be a fundamental part of Inuit traditional knowledge, culture, and survival. Veronica Ell likes to dip her fish in salt water when making pipsi at Duke of York Bay, near Coral Harbour, Nunavut. Photograph courtesy of Elsie Harron
Opinion | BY PETER KIKKERT | December 8, 2021
Every year, the Canadian Armed Forces leads Operation Nanook-Tatigiit, a whole-of-government exercise that practices co-operation and collaboration among key partners involved in northern disaster and emergency management. DND photograph by Corporal Simon Arcand
Opinion | BY PETER KIKKERT | December 8, 2021
Opinion | BY PETER KIKKERT | December 8, 2021
Every year, the Canadian Armed Forces leads Operation Nanook-Tatigiit, a whole-of-government exercise that practices co-operation and collaboration among key partners involved in northern disaster and emergency management. DND photograph by Corporal Simon Arcand
Opinion | BY TIMOTHY CHOI | November 17, 2021
Despite the Arctic’s growing geopolitical significance and increasing maritime traffic, the upgraded Victoria class have spent most of their limited sailing times this past decade in the Far East and West, not North, like the HMCS Chicoutimi—pictured in Scotland in 2005—which sailed to Japan in 2017-2018, from which it monitored North Korean sanctions, writes Timothy Choi. DND photograph by Cpl. Robert Bottrill
Opinion | BY TIMOTHY CHOI | November 17, 2021
Opinion | BY TIMOTHY CHOI | November 17, 2021
Despite the Arctic’s growing geopolitical significance and increasing maritime traffic, the upgraded Victoria class have spent most of their limited sailing times this past decade in the Far East and West, not North, like the HMCS Chicoutimi—pictured in Scotland in 2005—which sailed to Japan in 2017-2018, from which it monitored North Korean sanctions, writes Timothy Choi. DND photograph by Cpl. Robert Bottrill
Opinion | BY TOM HENHEFFER | November 4, 2021
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent makes an approach to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. There are only a handful of ships dedicated to science in the North, and five of them belong to Arctic Research Foundation, writes its vice president, Tom Henheffer. With major gaps in our Arctic coverage, scientists struggle to understand how temperatures are changing, how sea ice is melting, and how migratory patterns have shifted. Photograph courtesy of Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard
Opinion | BY TOM HENHEFFER | November 4, 2021
Opinion | BY TOM HENHEFFER | November 4, 2021
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent makes an approach to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. There are only a handful of ships dedicated to science in the North, and five of them belong to Arctic Research Foundation, writes its vice president, Tom Henheffer. With major gaps in our Arctic coverage, scientists struggle to understand how temperatures are changing, how sea ice is melting, and how migratory patterns have shifted. Photograph courtesy of Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | November 3, 2021
Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson greets then-Canadian foreign minister Marc Garneau at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, on May 20. Photograph courtesy of the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | November 3, 2021
Opinion | BY HLYNUR GUDJONSSON | November 3, 2021
Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson greets then-Canadian foreign minister Marc Garneau at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, on May 20. Photograph courtesy of the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | November 1, 2021
Shipping as envisioned by most is a large tanker vessel loaded with everything from produce to computers, to vehicles. For Inuit, shipping and, broadly, marine transportation is critical infrastructure. Inuit are a maritime people. We rely on free movement, first and foremost, to eat, since so much of our diet is derived from hunting. Photograph courtesy of NASA
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | November 1, 2021
Opinion | BY MONICA ELL-KANAYUK | November 1, 2021
Shipping as envisioned by most is a large tanker vessel loaded with everything from produce to computers, to vehicles. For Inuit, shipping and, broadly, marine transportation is critical infrastructure. Inuit are a maritime people. We rely on free movement, first and foremost, to eat, since so much of our diet is derived from hunting. Photograph courtesy of NASA
The Arctic Council’s signing ceremony in Ottawa in 1996, with Mary May Simon, left, who is now Canada’s Governor General, and on the far left, then foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy. Photograph courtesy of the Inuit Circumpolar Council
The Arctic Council’s signing ceremony in Ottawa in 1996, with Mary May Simon, left, who is now Canada’s Governor General, and on the far left, then foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy. Photograph courtesy of the Inuit Circumpolar Council
Opinion | BY BRUCE CARSON | August 18, 2021
During the July 26 installation ceremony and in Mary Simon’s speech following, one just knew that we were dealing with someone who made promises she did intend to keep and set goals she attended to accomplish, writes Bruce Carson. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
Opinion | BY BRUCE CARSON | August 18, 2021
Opinion | BY BRUCE CARSON | August 18, 2021
During the July 26 installation ceremony and in Mary Simon’s speech following, one just knew that we were dealing with someone who made promises she did intend to keep and set goals she attended to accomplish, writes Bruce Carson. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
Opinion | BY GERRY NICHOLLS | August 4, 2021
It seems former Conservative MP Derek Sloan, pictured, wants to form his own political party—tentatively called 'True North'—as a vehicle to promote his ideological values. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY GERRY NICHOLLS | August 4, 2021
Opinion | BY GERRY NICHOLLS | August 4, 2021
It seems former Conservative MP Derek Sloan, pictured, wants to form his own political party—tentatively called 'True North'—as a vehicle to promote his ideological values. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion | BY ADELE BUCKLEY | July 28, 2021
Canada should take note of recent comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Arctic, writes Adele Buckley. Flickr photograph by JLHervàs, photograph courtesy of World Economic Forum
Opinion | BY ADELE BUCKLEY | July 28, 2021
Opinion | BY ADELE BUCKLEY | July 28, 2021
Canada should take note of recent comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Arctic, writes Adele Buckley. Flickr photograph by JLHervàs, photograph courtesy of World Economic Forum