National Defence Committee on Oct. 1st, 2009

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

I want to raise a point of order, if I may, Mr. Chair.

Would it be possible to obtain the details of Ms. Simons's six priorities in both official languages—I discussed it earlier with the clerk. I think it will be an important part of our report. I just wanted to make sure that the request was recorded.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Yes, we can get that in both official languages. Thank you.

I will now give the floor to Mr. Payne.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My congratulations on your landslide, as well as congratulations to the vice-chairs on their landslides.

Welcome to our visitors today. It's very important that we hear from the Inuit in the north.

I really would like to direct my questions and have your thoughts in terms of the recent creation of the Northern Economic Development Agency in our 2009 budget economic action plan. I'm wondering if you could have a look at that and share your thoughts on how that funding will assist the Inuit in jobs in the north and in creating opportunities there.

[Mary Simon]

Part of the establishment of the Northern Economic Development Agency, which is part of the Arctic strategy, is based on the renewal of some programs that existed in the past that were getting to the end of their agreements. So there has been a renewal of some of those programs, which are very useful to some of our economic development that goes on in the north. Because of the fact that these programs are being moved into this agency and are being managed by northerners--that's the hope--they will be more hands-on, and we'll be able to determine better how to continue using existing programs that have been renewed. I think there are two or three of them.

In terms of new money, I don't think there really was any new money announced with the creation of this agency. I think it's $10 million over ten years. It's been created to organize the programs that are there and to move it into the north so that northerners can have more of a hands-on approach to the whole program. As far as I know, there was no new money announced.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

There are a number of projects that have been announced, like the harbour and those types of things. I'm just wondering how those will impact the ability for the Inuit and the young to get jobs there and create some wealth and economic opportunities for the Inuit.

[Mary Simon]

I think, sir, it depends on what is being built. In terms of the small harbour development, there may be some opportunities for some local employment. It depends on the training that has been achieved by the individuals.

We're concerned about the research station that's going to be built in the Arctic. We feel it's not tailored at this point to the particular needs of northerners, because research has always been in the hands of academics and people with PhDs. Our people don't have that, but we have a very strong knowledge base that we'd like to make sure is used in the decision-making process. We haven't really seen how that will be integrated into the development of the large research station that is anticipated to be built in the Arctic.

I go back to education again, because unless our young people are more academically educated, they will not participate in those projects, except in the menial jobs.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

I'm sorry, your time has expired.

Mr. Wilfert.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chairman, the genesis for this discussion and report that we're doing has to do with the impact that climate change is having on the north and the impact on sovereignty issues and the military. In terms of the expertise, there's obviously a wealth of expertise in the north. We've seen impacts on habitat and migration issues. How can we best tap into that in terms of being able to develop constructive and useful recommendations, not only for government but also in dealing with many of the social implications that we see with regard to climate change in the north?

[Mary Simon]

Thank you for that question.

The simple answer is work with us and talk to us. We have people who have a lot of expertise. For instance, in the Nunavut government they have a department that specializes in Inuit traditional knowledge. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, ITK, is also setting up an Inuit knowledge centre where we can provide expertise on Arctic and Inuit issues. So I think if we can work together to build that, you will have the type of information you need in order to find that balance.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

So we need to either create or enhance structures that will facilitate the flow of information, then have the appropriate follow-up to ensure that the information that is given is actually utilized.

[Mary Simon]

Yes, that's absolutely correct.

We don't need to set up new structures. We have structures in place. We have regional research organizations. We work with ArcticNet in terms of research on climate change.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

How effective are they in terms of your ability to channel that information?

[Mary Simon]

ArcticNet do wonderful work on the hard sciences, but we feel their social science agenda is weak and we're trying to build it right now. We're going to have another meeting next week. But it is weak on that side of it, so we continue to try to build it.

But we do have research agencies in each of the northern regions that can provide a lot of information right now.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

You mentioned the comment about the need to reappoint an Arctic ambassador. What do you see as the value of that ambassador? How would that ambassador play a role, in your view, in dealing not only with issues of sovereignty but also, and in particular, with the implications for climate change in the north?

[Mary Simon]

Well, sir, I guess I'm in a good position to answer that question--

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Yes, that's true. That's why I asked you.

[Mary Simon]

--since I was the first ambassador. I was there for 10 years. What I found was that it was extremely useful to have a strong senior focal point in the government.

I know that Minister Cannon has said he is the person responsible, but I found that on a day-to-day basis working within the department, and also with other countries because we're a member of the Arctic Council, it was always very important to have a focal point so that people could come and talk to you about the issues. I think that was really the strength of Canada's participation in the Arctic Council, as well as in dealing with other issues on the Arctic.

I found it extremely useful to be able to talk to the deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister, as well as the minister on occasion, about some of the priorities that were being expressed by northern people, not just by Inuit but by northern people. I've always felt that it was a very important position.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

C'est fini?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

For your last question, you still have 30 seconds. You can thank her.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I'll definitely thank you, Ms. Simon, but I hope we're going to keep the channels of communication open in terms of any further written information that you can provide us, particularly on the impact of climate change.

It's about the climate change issue and the effect on sovereignty, and we're seeing what's happening in Greenland and other places in terms of how we need to have a multilateral approach to the issues and what will happen, not just in the immediate future but down the road. How do we prepare for that?

Thank you.

[Mary Simon]

Thank you very much.

Could I respond, sir?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

In 10 seconds, yes, quickly.

[Mary Simon]

We have an organization called the Inuit Circumpolar Council, and the Canada arm is involved in the negotiations for the Copenhagen meeting. I think they're going to be part of the Canadian delegation. So yes, we need to keep those channels open.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you very much.

I'll give the floor to Mr. Braid.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Congratulations on your re-election.

As the new member on the committee, I just want to say I'm very pleased to be here and I look forward to working with all of you.

Madam Simon and Mr. Merritt, thank you very much for your time today and, for that matter, this week. I found your presentation very helpful and very informative.

I'd like to touch on perhaps two or three different areas, if I have the time. I'll begin by elaborating on Mr. Payne's question on CanNor, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. It's clear, and I'm certainly aware--and it's clear from your presentation--that there's still a lot of work to do in the Arctic, particularly in the areas of human and social development, in health, education, etc. You very eloquently covered that.

However, I hope you would agree that the level of interest in the Arctic and the level of concern for the Arctic from this government is unprecedented. One of the expressions of that is the new creation of CanNor. I think it is significant that CanNor will be based in the north, in Iqaluit, and will help to bring greater focus to the impact of the programs under the CanNor umbrella.

Have you given any thought to how you might leverage the establishment of CanNor in the north and the greater focus of those programs?