Evidence of meeting #67 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was north.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Intergovernmental Relations, Government of Nunavut
I guess I would just point to the specific projects that the Arctic Council, at least at this point, has in mind. There's the short-lived climate forcers instrument being proposed, which will reduce the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere. I think Canada is probably going to be a leader in pushing for that instrument.
Then in terms of the other side, adaptation, at least from Nunavut's point of view, that's a key component of the Arctic Council chairmanship. We'd like to see that applied specifically in respect to climate change, which is going to result in more marine traffic in the north and Nunavut. We think that if the Arctic Council chairmanship were focused on implementing the Arctic marine strategic assessment, including pushing for a new polar code at the IMO, it would help Nunavut adapt to climate change.
I take your point that not everything is being addressed, but there are some specific programs that are being proposed at the Arctic Council, which the chair may take on, that will address climate change.
Acting Deputy Minister, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Government of the Northwest Territories
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, honourable member.
I think I would essentially echo my colleague's perspectives from Nunavut. Regarding the work of the council, the politics around the environment globally and internationally are obviously beyond my ability to speak to. But that said, I think there is a strong environmental agenda that can be championed not necessarily only through Canada's chairpersonship, but also through the future chairpersonship of the U.S. I think it's a little less about greenhouse gas reductions and those kinds of environmental policies and positions as it is about stewardship.
I'm not sure if I'm particularly comfortable articulating whether that particular work of the council is strong enough to stand up to international scrutiny, but I certainly believe that the council has undertaken, and has the chance to undertake through the next two chairpersonships, a strong environmental stewardship agenda.
Acting Deputy Minister, Economic Development, Government of Yukon
Thank you.
I would reiterate the same thing, that we're not really in a position to comment on whether we need to address it to a greater or lesser degree. I will re-emphasize, as my northern colleagues said, that our focus is on adaptation. We recognize that climate change is happening. We've seen changing temperatures and resulting changes in things like our permafrost, but along with those challenges and the changing temperatures and the permafrost, which is affecting our infrastructure, we believe there also comes an opportunity to do significant research, which we're doing through our cold climate innovation at our Yukon Research Centre, to develop technologies and services that can potentially assist us not only in developing our own businesses and economies but also be marketable to the rest of the world.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Thank you.
My last question is about the Internet. I think that in most Scandinavian countries having everybody hooked up to the Internet is not viewed as an some achievable goal but as a right, and no matter what part of those countries you're in, you have a right to receive Internet. Now, that's a pretty big challenge they're taking on, but they're doing it.
What percentage of your population is hooked up to the Internet, and how does that compare to the rest of Canada?
Director, Intergovernmental Relations, Government of Nunavut
I don't know the exact numbers, but I can tell you that there is a greater reliance on slower forms of Internet. There is a fairly high access to the Internet, but the actual technology is not as good as it is in the south. For a lot of people, the speed of access is not as good as it could be, so that's a priority for our government. As I mentioned, I don't have the exact numbers on who has what access, but it's definitely not as good as it is in the south.
Acting Deputy Minister, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Government of the Northwest Territories
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and honourable member.
I am unable to give you the specific percentages, but certainly in the Northwest Territories our communities suffer from the speed of access. It's via either via satellite or dial-up, and as practical as this may sound, as a government, when we're contemplating the dissemination of information, we have to factor those kinds of things into consideration, because what people can download and access in a community like Yellowknife, for example, is very different from what they can in our rural and remote communities. So, as I alluded to, we see the proposed Mackenzie Valley fibre optic link project as a priority that we as a government would like to bring to market. Of course, beside our residents, our industry and other public government bodies need better, faster connectivity. So we see it as a key priority.
My apologies, though, honourable member, that I'm not able to identify the particular statistics.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you.
We have just a little bit of time left. We're actually over time, but Mr. Hayden, go ahead and answer the question as well, please. Thanks.
Acting Deputy Minister, Economic Development, Government of Yukon
The Yukon government has actually paid a lot of attention to Internet, and a while back we undertook a Connect Yukon project. As a result, 98% of our homes can connect to high-speed Internet, if you define it as five megabits per service download. Eighty percent of our homes are actually connected. But what we're finding is that in today's society, five megabits is not nearly fast enough. Our overall goal is to try to ensure that we have capacity, reliability, and affordability as the rest of Canada. Certainly as we see what's commonly available in the south, we're starting to see speeds in major centres of 100 megabits and higher, which certainly would be a goal of the Yukon government. We've often argued to the CRTC that high-speed Internet should actually now be included in the basic service offered, because what we hear back from our citizens is that high-speed access is as important as, if not more important than, traditional telephone service.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much.
We're going to move over to Mr. Dechert.
Do you want to follow up with your question?
Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'll just ask the one question, Mr. Bevan, and then hand over to my colleague, Ms. Grewal.
Mr. Bevan, you were going to tell us a little bit more about the mapping of resources that your government is doing in the Northwest Territories.
Acting Deputy Minister, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Government of the Northwest Territories
Unfortunately, I am not able to speak to that with any precision. Again, I can certainly commit to provide that information to the committee. It's something that resides within the purview of our Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and I think I would probably be doing the committee a disservice if I spoke to it in any further detail. My apologies.
Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Could you supply that information to the committee? It would be much appreciated.
Acting Deputy Minister, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Government of the Northwest Territories
I certainly can, yes.
Conservative
Nina Grewal Conservative Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you, Chair.
Northerners have contributed greatly to the discussions taking place at the Arctic Council since its beginnings and northerners continue to have an important role in shaping Canadian policy on Arctic issues. Minister Aglukkaq has held multiple round tables with northern community groups and our government is committed to ensuring that northern communities are listened to.
In your opinion, how has this commitment to Canada's Arctic policy helped northern communities?
Any one of you can answer that question.
Director, Intergovernmental Relations, Government of Nunavut
Obviously, in the Government of Nunavut, we welcome the engagement that Minister Aglukkaq undertook by having her round tables in the north. She also consulted closely with our premier and members of the legislature, so all of the stakeholders had a chance to share their views. We think that the plans of the chair, at least so far as they have been rolled out, reflect a lot of the concerns and interests raised by people—at least in Nunavut.
So from our point of view, our MP has been doing a good job in involving the Nunavummiut in the process. Again, it's early on, but at least at this stage we're fairly happy with the engagement process.
Conservative