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Jean-François Arteau
Human Dimension of Canadian Sovereignty
Canada's efforts on affirming its sovereignty so far seem to be more focused on
addressing territorial concerns and fostering future economic development. But there are
2 other objectives that the Inuit would like to see promoted: a) environmental protection;
b) Social development and improved governance constitute the true pre-requisites for
Inuit and Northerners to have greater control over their destinies and a major say and
contribution to Canadian sovereignty issues.
Arteau completed a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Université Laval and a Master’s
Degree in Law from Université de Montréal. He occupied several strategic senior
positions within the Kativik Regional Government as Associate Director General and
Chief Legal Counsel.Since 2005, Me Arteau is Legal Counsel and Executive Assistant to
the President of Makivik Corporation, Pita Aatami. He is the author of several legal
articles and was invited as guest speaker by several organizations, including the
Massachussets Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Canadian Embassy in Paris
and the United Nations, to make presentations on the Inuit of Nunavik (northern Quebec,
Canada).
Terry Fenge
The Environmental Dimension of Canadian Sovereignty
In 2000 the Arctic Council authorized the preparation of a broad-based Arctic Climate
Impact Assessment, with policy recommendations. Drawing upon their "permanent
participant" status in the council, Arctic Indigenous Peoples were heavily engaged in this
exercise, completed in 2004. The ACIA projects significant environmental, economic and
cultural changes in the circumpolar world. Reflecting this assessment, Sheila WattCloutier and more than 60 named Inuit from Alaska and northern Canada in 2005
petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for relief from the impacts
of climate change caused by the emission of Greenhouse Gases from the United States.
Terry Fenge is an Ottawa-based consultant who earned degrees from the universities of
Wales, Victoria and Waterloo. He was Director of Research and Senior Negotiator for
the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut which concluded the Nunavut Land Claims
Agreement in 1993. From 1995 to 2006 he was Strategic Counsel to the International
Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (now council). He currently advises the Arctic
Athabaskan Council and Nunavut Tunnagavik Incorporated.
Rob Huebert
Interpretations and Representations of Canadian Sovereignty
Since the turn of the century Canada has been “re-discovering” the need to defend its
Arctic region. When the Cold War ended, almost all efforts to maintain a northern
military presence and capability also ceased. A token ability remained that was more
symbolic than real. However by 2000, it increasingly becoming apparent that new
developments in the Arctic required Canada to address its neglect of the north.
Specifically, the growing realization that climate change was about to make the entire
arctic region more accessible to southern interest means that the many resources of the
north would become available for exploitation. Ranging from the promise of new
maritime transportation routes, to the development of natural resources such as oil, gas
and fish stock, the recognition that Canada will see renewed international interest in its
north meant it needed to re-think its Arctic security policy.
Rob Huebert is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the
University of Calgary. He is also the associate director of the Centre for Military and
Strategic Studies. He was a senior research fellow of the Canadian International Council
and a fellow with Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. Dr. Huebert has
taught at Memorial University, Dalhousie University, and the University of Manitoba.
His area of research interests include: international relations, strategic studies, the Law of
the Sea, maritime affairs, Canadian foreign and defence policy, and circumpolar
relations. He publishes on the issue of Canadian Arctic Security, Maritime Security, and
Canadian Defence. His work has appeared in International Journal; Canadian Foreign
Policy; Isuma- Canadian Journal of Policy Research and Canadian Military Journal..
He wasco-editor of Commercial Satellite Imagery and United Nations Peacekeeping and
Breaking Ice: Canadian Integrated Ocean Management in the Canadian North. He also
comments on Canadian security and Arctic issues in both the Canadian and international
media.
Stéphane Roussel
Canada-US relations in the Arctic
The purpose of this presentation is first to describe the nature of the sovereignty issues
between Canada and the United States in the Arctic. It will focus on the Northwest
Passage, the Beaufort Sea, and the emergence of new challenges that could affect both
countries. Second, it will offer so possible approaches to address these issues, with a
particular emphasis on the institution-building perspectives (bilateral and multilateral).
The presentation will advocate the creation of a new bilateral institution based on the
model offered the Permanent Joint Board of Defence.
Stephane Roussel is professor at Université du Québec at Montreal and Canada Research
Chair in Canadian Defence and Foreign Policy since 2002. He is working on Arctic
issues since 2005 and made several visits in the Arctic (Canada, Alaska, Iceland). He
published numerous articles and chapters on Arctic security, and made presentations in
academic international conferences (Canada, United States, France, Denmark) and
governmental fora (Canada, United States, NATO). His works are focusing on different
dimensions of the Arctic politics, such as strategic culture, public opinion and
international cooperation and institutions.
Philip E. Steinberg
Historical, Political, and Legal Dimensions of Canadian Claims to
Sovereignty in the North
Philip E. Steinberg discusses the history of Canada’s claims to its far north, with a focus
on the ways in which Canada and other states have based their assertions of control on
idealizations of the region as ice, land, or water. He suggests that ongoing conflict in the
Arctic today is based, in part, on a continuing debate about the region’s physicality, and
he warns that this debate must be resolved lest the desire to set precedent and stabilize the
character of an ambiguous landscape lead to intensified conflict.
Dr. Steinberg is a professor in the Department of Geography at Florida State University,
where his research focuses on sovereignty and governance in spaces that are resistant to
state territorialization, including the ocean, the internet, and the Arctic. A past recipient
of a research grant from the International Council for Canadian Studies, he presently is
directing a four-university National Science Foundation-funded project studying northern
sovereignty claims among the five Arctic Ocean states. The author of five books, he has
published on Arctic sovereignty claims and Canadian imaginaries of the north in leading
academic journals including Political Geography, The Annals of the Association of
American Geographers, and Island Studies Journal.