Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We are pleased today to offer you an overview of the northern strategy and the role Indian and Northern Affairs Canada plays therein.
On page 2, you will find an overview of our department's responsibilities in the North. These responsibilities apply to the three territories, a region which represents 40% of Canada's land mass and is home to a population of some 100,000 inhabitants scattered over this vast territory.
As you can see, these responsibilities are far-reaching, but today I will focus in particular on those at the bottom of the page.
We have an important role at INAC to play in terms of the overall coordination of the activities of federal departments, boards, and agencies in the territories. Our minister is the lead for the northern strategy and plays a very important role in the coordination of various activities under the northern strategy. Our minister also co-signs cabinet documents related to northern issues. We have significant machinery to support the minister's role. Our deputy minister chairs a committee of deputies who meet on a regular basis to ensure that initiatives already announced as funded are being implemented and, on an evergreen basis, to also think of future priorities for the northern strategy. We also have a government structure below that level, at the ADM level, with various working groups at the officials' level.
Turning to slide 3, the Prime Minister announced a northern strategy in October 2007, and you have here the framework for the strategy. There are four integrated and interconnected pillars, and there are also both domestic and international aspects. In terms of circumpolar international affairs, we work very closely with our colleagues at DFAIT, and the department is involved in a number of Arctic Council working groups.
I'd also like to draw your attention to the science and technology element, which is really foundational and cuts across all pillars, because it really is the basis of knowledge to inform good decisions on all the pillars.
With respect to Arctic sovereignty, our key objective of course is to exercise our sovereignty by maintaining a strong presence in the north, enhancing our scientific knowledge and our stewardship of the region, defining our domain, and dealing with the international interests in the region.
The second pillar addresses economic and social development, and we're looking at the potential of the region for development, as well as ensuring that northerners participate in and reap benefits from this development. We also play a role in socio-economic development at INAC and run various economic development programs in the north, and we are also currently planning for the future economic development agency that was recently announced.
Under environmental protection, we have a unique stewardship role in Canada to play to ensure that this vast region is protected. A big driver, of course, as you know, is climate change and the impact it's having on the Arctic.
Finally, under governance, we need to continue our efforts to achieve devolution for all three territories and to complete our land claim agreements.
I'll now just move down a little bit, pillar by pillar, so we'll turn to slide 4.
There are a number of aspects to sovereignty. First is the issue of presence and increasing the federal presence on the land and the water and in the sky over the Arctic. There's also a stewardship aspect, and doing our part to ensure that we can respond to issues and challenges within our territory, such as search and rescue and emergency response. These issues may gain in prominence as Arctic shipping traffic increases.
The media has been quite seized about disputed zones in the Arctic. I know my colleagues from DFAIT will be coming later this week to discuss that, so I won't get into details on those issues.
I would now like to briefly highlight a few key initiatives that are on the way in support of the sovereignty pillar. Moneys have been set aside and the responsible departments are now planning for the construction of offshore patrol vessels, as well as the replacement for the Louis St. Laurent coast guard vessel. The government has also increased the level of effort to delineate Canada's continental shelf in support of the claim we will make to the United Nations in 2013.
Turning now to economic and social development, as you know, interest in the natural resources potential of the Arctic is increasing in Canada and abroad. This is driven in large part by growth and demand for resources and the prospects of easier accessibility to these resources. The current global economic crisis has certainly impacted the north. Some operations have ceased and others have scaled back, but there's a general expectation that commodity prices will rebound, and we certainly expect demand worldwide to continue.
As more development occurs, though, we need to ensure that northerners participate and benefit. The settlement of most of our land claims in the north has positioned northerners well, relative to the past, but we haven't finished the business of land claims. There are persistent challenges in many communities, including education capacity and skill gaps.
Some communities are concerned about the pace of development and whether those decisions will be balanced and take into consideration protection of the pristine wildlife and flora. At the same time, the private sector is looking for greater certainty and timeliness in terms of making decisions. So these are important considerations.
For slide 5, we'd like to talk briefly about climate change. I know you'll hear a little bit more in an hour. Climate change is making it easier, in a way, to unlock the resources of the north, but it's also creating huge adaptation challenges for traditional lifestyles and also for infrastructure and in countless other ways. Reduced ice coverage may open up new shipping lanes and transportation routes in the long term, but in the short term there will be a lot of hazards to navigation. We are therefore expanding the application of the rules under which vessel traffic will function in the Arctic.
We're also concerned about the presence of transported pollutants into the food chain. At the top of that chain are northerners, and they are still relying in great part on traditional foods for their diets. Our northern contaminants programs is instrumental in uncovering data that leads to the implementation of various international instruments, such as the protocol on organic pollutants.
We also need better baseline data to support decisions. The Arctic is huge, and there are huge gaps in our knowledge, so we must invest more in science. Much has been done in the last few years, but there's still a lot to do.
As important as socio-economic growth and environmental protection are, there's also the need to build strong northern governments.
The first aspect of this is to help territorial governments and aboriginal groups set up political and economic institutions that will help them assume their growing responsibilities as part of devolution.
We're also working towards the negotiation and implementation of land claim and self-government agreements. We've made much progress, but it's unfinished business. These agreements are key to supporting economic development and ensuring that aboriginal northerners will benefit from development.
Moving on to slide 6, I'd like to speak a bit to the S and T aspect. We have a robust Arctic science capacity in Canada and it supports a range of core regulatory functions and broader government priorities. We have many world-class scientists, and many young researchers are emerging thanks to recent investments in Arctic science, including International Polar Year.
As you know, the Prime Minister announced that we would establish a world-class research facility in Canada's High Arctic, and we've been making great progress in that area. We'll soon be meeting with and consulting the three communities that have been shortlisted as potential hosts for the future station, and we're moving ahead with the feasibility study.
In the last budget, the amount of $85 million over two years was announced in order to improve scientific infrastructure in the Arctic. These infrastructures exist already and belong to our federal, territorial, academic and native Inuit partners, and we are currently working jointly with them.
