Harper's Northern Development Strategy: Too One-Sided for Success?

by Keith Edmund White

Is Harper's Northern Strategy sustainable?  CUSLINexus quickly recaps three articles that question whether the Harper government is jeopardizing Canadian sovereignty and long-term Arctic development to meet short-term cuts to government spending.

The HillTimes reports on the trade-offs Harper is making to develop Canada's Arctic. While pushing billions of dollars in energy development, other government funding is being cut. The National Post last week reported on delays in the construction of a Northern scientific facility and the Nanisivik port, not to mention the Post's May 2012 article reporting on the budget-busting price of of Radarsat satellites and plans for a dozen nuclear powered subsubmarines and the world's largest ice-breaker being scrubbed.

And now the HillTimes (a fantastic resource--and definitely worth, at least, signing up for a free trial) reports on another Harper cut to government services in the North. Mining Watch coordinator Ramsey Hart discusses the closure of the National Aboriginal Health Organization:

“I think a really big concern about the way that this government is treating resource development in the North is with its reliance on economic development as a way to deal with significant social issues that are found in the North,” Mr. Hart said.

He cited the elimination of the National Aboriginal Health Organization in the last budget as an example of an important federally funded program that could not be replaced by resource development. With an annual budget of $4.4-million, the NAHO produced health studies on aboriginal communities in the North. The organization ceased its operations at the end of June.

Mr. Hart said the NAHO was one of the few programs that focused on issues such as the impact of resource development on community health.

“To just assume that these projects will address social issues is really naive and runs the risk of further exacerbating some of the social issues in the North,” he said.

Taken together, these three articles suggest that concrete steps to Canada increasing its footprint to the North are falling behind ready-to-move mining operations.  While this approach is understandable, it may jeopardize attempts of Canada to assert sovereignty over the Arctic's emerging waterways and future Arctic economic development.

And does Canada need the Harper government's spending cuts?  Not according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative--though, it seems unlikely that any major Canadian party would champion this group's progressive tax and government investment strategy.