Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 15th, 2018

[Gregory Lick]

One of the things we should recognize is that it's not new to us. It's something we've been doing as we have navigated the Arctic and supplied services to the Arctic over the decades. We've been consulting and engaging with the people of the north for that long period of time.

In terms of examples, as we made a decision, through analysis, on where to put the first inshore rescue boat, we went across the Arctic into about 20 different communities and engaged those communities, including the indigenous communities. We asked what would be the best place in the Arctic that could support search and rescue, but support it with the people who were there as well. That's just one example of what we've been doing. In terms of that analysis, we went across the Arctic and used a methodology that looked at what capacities are there, what new shipping is coming along, and where the search and rescue risk is, but that's something we've been doing for decades.

As another example, we are now in the Iqaluit marine communications and traffic services centre. We now have a desk there that's dedicated to Inuit people, to help us deal with hunting and trapping, communications, search and rescue cases, and so on. We're not only consulting, but also integrating the indigenous people of the north into our centre, to be able to deal with search and rescue much more effectively.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

With the impacts of climate change, and acknowledging that the Arctic has a fairly robust young population, what is the biggest impact and how does that affect your human resource needs for the Coast Guard?

[Gregory Lick]

Climate change has a direct impact on the safety of navigation through the Arctic. That is its most direct impact in our domain, and that's something I talked about in my opening remarks, in terms of what we're doing to mitigate some of that risk as climate change affects the Arctic.

In terms of our human resources, as we are placing more assets in the Arctic—whether those are search and rescue assets dedicated to the Arctic or environmental protection caches, locations where equipment is being placed—we are attempting to integrate the indigenous communities and other communities into manning that equipment. More importantly, if they cannot be manned on a permanent basis, we're training the local communities how to use that equipment to respond, because when an environmental incident occurs, the Coast Guard may not be the first there, since the Arctic is so vast. The local communities will be the first there, and it's important for us to train those communities and make sure they're able to respond.

Regarding human resources, we're working with the different colleges, particularly the Arctic College, to attract people into the Coast Guard, to help with those environmental caches, or to help with the search and rescue assets, so it's a vital element of our human resource strategy. It's definitely a challenge, but we want to make sure that our response and our services in the Arctic are a success. That's vital to us.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I don't have enough time to ask a question of Environment Canada, but could you share with the committee any innovative work that's being done on how to address climate change in that region? You were talking about the tubes underneath that let in the cold air and get rid of water. If you could give us anything that talks about innovative ways to move forward with infrastructure and support infrastructure, that would be really helpful.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

But in a two-page document, please.... That could be hundreds of pages, Rachel. I'm just saying, science is a marvellous thing.

Okay, we're moving on to the next MP on our list, who is T.J. Harvey.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm going to share my time with Hunter. Whatever he doesn't use, I'll take.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

MP Hunter Tootoo, welcome to our committee.

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Harvey, for sharing your time.

My first question is for Mr. Hutton. You talked about how you're developing this multimodal Arctic transportation policy framework to put yourself in a better position to address our needs.

When do you expect this to be done?

[Craig Hutton]

We've been in some consultations across each of the three territories, engaging in discussions as to how the department could better reflect Arctic needs in its policies, investments and program design. We're actively working on the development of that framework and looking to align that with the work that's taking place at CIRNAC, so we're hoping for later this year.

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

As you mentioned, and everyone knows, air and marine transportation are our only two modes of transportation. Are you consulting with the folks who work up there in those industries and provide those services to us in the north? They're the ones with first-hand knowledge of the challenges and issues that they face on a daily basis. Will you be consulting with them as well?

[Craig Hutton]

Over the course of the summer, we have had conversations with operators who are operating up there, which we plan to continue. We had one consultation session specifically dedicated to that in Montreal, because a number of operators who have operations in the north are based either in Montreal or close to Montreal. We're getting a good sense from them of the conditions they've operated in—in some cases, for decades. Getting their knowledge incorporated into our framework, and how our programs can impact them, is a really important aspect of the work we're doing.

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Are you looking at talking to the airline industry folks as well? I know there are some changes being made right now in some of the regulations on flight duty time that are impacting their operations. Will you be talking with them about any challenges they face, which can help you deal with it?

[Craig Hutton]

Yes, and there have been specific discussions around the issue of flight duty times with operators in the north. As well, in the broader construct of the framework, we are talking to air representatives.

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you very much.

I'll move on to Mr. Lick. It's good to see you, sir.

I'll just start by saying that I appreciate all the investments that have been made by the Coast Guard in the north. The rescue boat that was there for the trade show in Rankin Inlet was a big hit. It was great.

You talked about these caches that you have, and I know they are in a number of different communities around the north. One, are you looking at expanding to more communities as the ice seems to be opening up more? Two, how often do you go around to these communities and work with either the local hunters and trappers organization or the municipality on looking at the equipment and what's there, and some instruction on how to use it as well?

[Gregory Lick]

In terms of the environmental caches, we currently have 24 across the Arctic, including one rapid air transportable pack—we call it a RAT pack—in Hay River.

The caches, in and of themselves, are pretty well useless unless you have people who are trained to use them. One of our priorities is to make sure that those local communities are trained. The equipment is modernized as well. Like most equipment, if you don't use it, it becomes useless after a while; it just degrades.

There are two sides to it. One is that we're modernizing the equipment, reinvesting in those caches, and looking at training, making sure that the people are trained to use it, absolutely. The other side of it is that we look across the country, not just the Arctic, and we look at regional response planning or geographic response planning. We look at areas of risk. As that risk changes, not only in the Arctic but across the country, we look at what we have to invest in to be able to address that risk. It's highly likely that as shipping lanes change, as shipping changes in the Arctic over time, we will invest in different caches as we move forward. So, yes, absolutely.

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll turn it back over to Mr. Harvey.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

You have two minutes.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

My first question is for the Department of the Environment. We've spent a lot of time talking about the increased opportunity for transit in the Arctic, given the changes to the climate that we've already experienced. What work has been done to measure the potential negative consequences of continuing on the same trajectory, if you will? As shipping lanes become more readily available, of course, we'll have increased traffic. What research has been done to try to measure what the possible effects could be?

[Dr. Chris Derksen]

Thanks, I'll answer that question.

There's a WMO report that we will have to make available to the committee on the impacts of changing sea ice on Arctic shipping; that's very important.

In the context of Canada, one thing I want to raise, which is very important, is that the central Arctic is where we're seeing most of the loss of sea ice. In the Canadian Arctic, just the way it's located, the way Arctic sea ice tends to move, we still get a lot of multi-year ice—thicker, older ice that flows down into Canadian waters. While the perception, which is in many ways true, is that the Arctic is opening up and there is less sea ice—the Northwest Passage has opened for ship traffic much more in recent years than it ever did before—the risks are still very real, in the sense that Canadian waterways, with their narrow channels, can be dangerous places to operate in, because sea ice does still drift through those channels during the summer.

While we're seeing the loss of sea ice across the Arctic, there are distinct Canadian challenges that result from that sea ice moving into Canadian territory that we have to be aware of. That's really important from a shipping point of view.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you.

In terms of road construction in the north, which I know is similar to new methodology around runway construction, what environmental considerations are taken into account when that new style transportation infrastructure is built? If you build a vented highway or a vented runway, is there a zero barrier created that you build on? Or is permafrost manipulated to find a base to start from?

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

That's a yes-or-no answer, so answer quickly.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

There you go.

[Craig Hutton]

It depends.

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

That's perfect. Fair enough.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

MP Arnold Viersen is next.