RAIPON represents 250,000 indigenous peoples in over 21 different types of what we would call first nations groups. It is a permanent participant in the Arctic Council, but it is also involved with several other international organizations, and domestically. It is not just a permanent participant, it does many other activities as well.
RAIPON is opposed to some extractive industries operating in its territories and has differing views from those of the Russian government. According to the representative of RAIPON, this is a major reason for the suspension. Overall, the Russian permanent participants find it difficult to engage in the Arctic Council's work due to the lack of funding, and there are restrictions on their receiving money because of the recent changes to the NGO laws in Russia. What's interesting about this particular case is that the Russian senior Arctic official who represents the Russian Federation at the Arctic Council signed the letter saying that the suspension should be lifted. There is some internal work going on there between the different ministries not seeing this issue in the same way.
I think Canada needs to keep the focus on this issue.The suspension is very recent and it needs to be constantly brought up with our Russian counterparts to facilitate their involvement. In the meantime, one thing we need to understand is that many of the permanent participant organizations represent people in more than one state. For example, the Inuit Circumpolar Council, ICC, represents Inuit in Greenland, Alaska, Canada, and Russia. The Russian counterparts find it difficult to engage in the meetings as well.
There is a huge funding gap that limits the ability of these groups to be involved. I think that's something we need to look at as a council as a whole. Canada should really focus on a permanent funding mechanism for these groups.