Tim Lougheed
No more than a tiny fraction of Canadians visit any part of Canada’s vast northern extremities, yet much of our national identity is bound up with perceptions of this sweeping frontier. Still, many of those perceptions may be outdated or simplistic, according to some dedicated observers, who suggest that the North that we think we know is quickly vanishing.
That theme, “The Disappearing North,” defined this year’s edition of the University of Ottawa’s Frontiers in Research Lectures, in October. This annual event invites renowned individuals to present their perspectives on a given subject to members of the University and to the public, providing the opportunity for a valuable exchange of ideas.
Each of this year’s four featured speakers was eager to share their insights into the change that is affecting this large portion of Canada.
“We Canadians are not really as aware of the Arctic as we should be,” cautioned Franklyn Griffiths, a political scientist at the University of Toronto. His own awareness was enhanced dramatically last year, when he conducted a five-week, 26,130 km journey across the North as part of a feature article for The Walrus magazine.
“What we need is a realistic assessment,” he explained, arguing that the realities of the North include its status as a peripheral, peaceful, dependent, divided, and somewhat disorganized region. In fact, what most of us think of as a monolithic part of the national landscape is actually a patchwork of cultures and administrative structures, all of them now threatened by external groups interested in the North’s resources, which are becoming increasingly accessible due to the reduction of ice in local waterways caused by climate change.
Laval University researcher Louis Fortier, who has led repeated expeditions through many of these waterways, describes the ultimate effect as creating a “new Mediterranean,” a sea bordered by nations that could mount conflicting priorities. He emphasized the need for the scientific community to communicate these physical effects in a way that will enable political leaders to take appropriate action.
“It has to be a two-way exchange — the policymakers being involved in the research, and the scientists being involved in the policymaking,” he explained.
Other types of changes are also being examined, such as the transformation of eating habits in many places. Hunting and fishing skills are no longer passed down from generation to generation in a consistent way. The animals that were traditionally eaten in the North are no longer considered safe, because their bodies may be contaminated by potentially harmful chemicals carried through the atmosphere from all parts of the globe. Meanwhile, many people's diets are dominated by cheap snack foods with little nutritional value, rather than healthy processed foods, which are prohibitively expensive to transport from southern climes.
University of Northern British Columbia environmental health specialist Laurie Chan has studied these trends in detail, noting the major challenge posed by these dietary choices. “Telling people what is a healthy diet is very difficult,” he said. “Any parent can attest to that.”
Advocates for these indigenous populations cast such problems in dire terms.
“We know that the Arctic is one of the last peaceful and pristine places in the world,” said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who recently received an honorary doctorate from the University. She insists that an “ice-free Northwest Passage is an environmental disaster.”
Her ongoing work to draw attention to this matter has earned her many honours, among the most recent being a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. She portrayed climate change as ultimately posing a threat to human rights, a situation that can nevertheless bring out the best in people.
“I know we’re struggling, but we have lived in the Arctic for a long time, and so have a lot to offer,” she said. “We will always be there in the Arctic. We live there and we are always protecting what we have around it.”
