Science and Research Committee on June 4th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I call the meeting to order.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(i) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, the committee is resuming its study of science and research in Canada's Arctic in relation to climate change.

It's now my pleasure to welcome our witnesses to this committee. From the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, we have Lisa Koperqualuk, the president of that organization. From the Natural Environment Research Council's Arctic office, we have Henry Burgess, the head of that organization.

We'll begin with opening remarks of up to five minutes, after which, we'll proceed with rounds of questions.

Ms. Koperqualuk, I invite you to make your opening statement of up to five minutes.

[Lisa Koperqualuk, President, Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada)]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for this opportunity to share with you today the things that are truly important to us in terms science and research in climate change.

My name is Lisa Qiluqqi Koperqualuk. I'm the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, which was formed, along with all of the other ICC countries, in 1977, representing over 180,000 Inuit across Chukotka, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.

Today, I'm speaking to you in the late afternoon from Bonn, Germany, where ICC is present to advocate for Inuit and the impacts that climate change has on our circumpolar homeland, Inuit Nunangat, and on our lands, ice and waters.

While a lot of our work is on the international scale, there are national implications. The consequences and impacts of climate change in the Arctic are felt in every aspect of day-to-day life and in the foundation of our culture. Arctic sea ice decline is expected to result in ice-free summers by the middle of the 21st century. Inuit have observed this and are experiencing its impacts. Increased shipping in the Arctic is changing the migration routes of marine mammals and forcing Inuit to also travel much farther to find our healthy country food.

Permafrost temperatures have increased to record levels in the past 30 years. As it thaws and degrades, the buildings, pipelines and airstrips that are built upon it can tilt and become unstable. Up to 50% of Arctic infrastructure may be at risk of damage by 2050. This will require significant financing commitments.

Surface waves with increased intensity and frequency are projected in the Arctic Ocean and along the coast, resulting in increased rates of coastal erosion in the coming decades. Thawing permafrost and waves erode the Arctic coastline at an average of half a metre per year. In northern Alaska, the rates are 1.4 metres per year.

Here, at the international level, one of our key messages is that Inuit and all indigenous peoples around the world require equitable, sustainable and direct access to climate finance. The climate change adaptation needs are extensive across Inuit Nunangat, from emergency management to ice safety and infrastructure. We are encouraged by the indigenous climate leadership agenda within Canada, and hope to see ambitious action from beyond the current mandate.

Indigenous knowledge involves multiple methodologies, evaluation and validation processes, and ways of storing and sharing information. It offers a holistic approach that can contribute to a fair, equitable and truly just transition. Indigenous knowledge aids in identifying research needs and can inform decision-makers. While there's been progress, there's also a lot of teaching to be done on how to use and incorporate our knowledge in a way that is equitable and ethical.

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation recently announced the creation of an Inuvialuit community research network. This is a great example of Inuit determining their research priorities in their communities. This will bring capacity and self-determination, and it needs to be the norm of community-led research by Inuit for Inuit.

This year, Makivvik released its climate change adaptation strategy. That report acknowledges the need for greater involvement of Inuit knowledge holders and youth, and the use of Inuit knowledge in climate change research. Such examples are achieved through a lot of effort and time, and people dedicated to the issue of climate change in Inuit Nunangat.

Climate change research and capacity-building are areas that must continue to grow as they experience significant demand and require specific expertise. Limited funding prevents ICC Canada from adequately fulfilling its mandate.

Proper financial and human resources would then allow ICC Canada to support Inuit in achieving self-determination at the international level, where decisions around climate action are made and those decisions are far removed from the Arctic.

Through equal partnership with Inuit and our knowledge and experience, we have an important role—

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Thank you, Mrs. Koperqualuk.

[Lisa Koperqualuk]

—to play in understanding change in the Arctic and what it means to Inuit, Canada and the globe.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Thank you. That's all the time we have. Thank you very much.

[Lisa Koperqualuk]

That was my conclusion. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Now we will turn to Mr. Burgess for five minutes.

[Henry Burgess, Head, Natural Environment Research Council Arctic Office]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, bonjour. Thank you very much for the opportunity to give evidence to your inquiry today. It's a great pleasure to share this opportunity with the chair of ICC Canada, Lisa Koperqualuk.

My name is Henry Burgess, and I am the head of the Natural Environment Research Council Arctic Office, which is hosted by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. I've been in this role since 2016, and prior to that I was the deputy head of the Polar Regions Department in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. For the period 2022-26, I'm also the president of the International Arctic Science Committee, an independent, non-governmental organization that has existed since 1990 with 24 member states, the role of which is to encourage and facilitate international co-operation across all forms of Arctic science.

Our role in the U.K.'s Arctic Office is to support Arctic researchers based in the United Kingdom, to provide advice to policy-makers and decision-makers, to represent the U.K. in a range of international science discussions and fora, to support the delivery of the U.K.'s physical presence in the Arctic through our research station in Svalbard, Norway, and to create new international research programs.

Canada has been a major focus of our approach over the last six years. We have made a significant commitment and investment in developing a new international program and implementing Canadian, U.K. and Inuit priorities. The Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom Arctic Research Program 2021-25, known as CINUK, is an $18 million-plus program to address key themes connected to climate-driven changes to terrestrial, coastal and near-shore marine environments across Inuit Nunangat as well as the impacts on Inuit community health and well-being. Full details of the program are available at the website, cinuk.org.

The CINUK programme represents the United Kingdom Research and Innovation's largest current single strategic investment in Arctic research. It is delivered and funded in partnership with Polar Knowledge Canada, the National Research Council, Fonds de recherche du Québec, Parks Canada and in fully equitable partnership with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. The program is delivering 13 projects involving more than 150 program participants and over 60 research, community and other organizations.

Themes include human health, animal health and country food, beaver range expansion, food security, glaciers and ecosystem health, shipping trends and risks, plastics and health, search and rescue, coastal erosion, integrated renewable energy, safe sea ice travel and much more. Combining environmental themes with social, economic and technological themes is central to the program.

Equitable and empowering partnerships between Inuit researchers and community members and those in Canada and the United Kingdom in governance, core design and assessment, project delivery, publication and data ownership are central to this program. Every step of the development of the program has been done in partnership with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and with the aim of meeting the expectations of the national Inuit strategy on research. Every project has had Inuit involvement in the planning and delivery from the very start.

The development of the program, which included the signing of a groundbreaking memorandum of understanding between all the partners in 2021, has involved a major commitment by U.K. Research and Innovation. It has stretched, in many good ways, our existing ways of working. I'm extremely grateful to all our Canadian and Inuit partners for their patience, support and partnership in taking forward this new way of working.

Whilst the CINUK programme represents only part of the U.K.'s Arctic science and research connection with Canada, the innovative and stretching nature of the program represents an important development, with implications for wider international partnerships. As we think about the next phases of research connection with Canada and other international partnerships and about the international polar year coming up in 2032-33 as a whole, we are committed to ensuring that we spread the learning from this approach.

I look forward to assisting the committee in any way I can.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

Thank you so much, Mr. Burgess.

I'd like to point this out to the committee that we were not able to get the headset to our third witness in time for today. We sent it over three weeks ago. It's probably going to arrive tomorrow. We're hoping to re-book Mr. Andrew Arreak from SmartICE at another time.

That concludes the opening statements.

Because we're in a hybrid format, I would like to remind those participating virtually to please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. Those by video conference can click on the microphone icon to activate your mic. Please mute yourself if you're not speaking. For interpretation, those of you on Zoom have the choice, at the bottom of your screen of the floor, English or French. Those in the room can use the earpiece and select the desired channels. Please raise your hand if you wish to speak. Members on Zoom can use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your understanding. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

Now we will open the floor for questions. Please be sure to indicate to whom your questions are directed.

We'll kick it off with MP Tochor for six minutes.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, witnesses. I have some questions for you that we'll get to shortly.

I have a question for our chair, though.

On February 27, 2024, we had Mona Nemer, the Liberal chief science adviser for Canada, before this committee. We asked her a couple of questions that she promised to answer. However, it is now June 4 and we still have not received any answers despite repeated reminders. These were simple questions: What is your budget? What are you doing? Yet, months later, we've heard nothing.

Madam Chair, what are you doing to hopefully resolve this for all committee members?

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I will suspend for a moment while I converse with the clerk.

The clerk has reached out three times, most recently on May 27. The response was that they're working on it and will get us something, but they didn't give us a time.

What are the thoughts of the committee?

MP Rempel Garner.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

On this point, it should be concerning that we have a public servant who can't answer basic questions like what their budget is and what they are working on. If they are listening, I find those to be pretty basic questions. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Departments like this exist at the pleasure of Parliament, not the other way around. The fact that we're not able to get this information is a borderline question of privilege, at this point, I think. We've been asked to scrutinize spending. A lot of the recommendations that could be made in some of the reports on issues that we are considering could ostensibly be affected by this lack of information. I just don't understand why this is happening.

My inclination, at this point, would be to either discuss this as a matter of privilege or use a stronger motion. I also think she might need to come back to committee to answer for why it's taking three months to produce such basic information. It's really deplorable.

Chair, we're at the point where we need to escalate this. If you're not able to get that information, I think we'll probably have to look at other options.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I'll suspend for a moment.

As chair of the committee, I would be quite willing to write a letter to her saying that we have asked three times—most recently on May 27—and are looking for answers to these straightforward questions. I would give them a date. Let me see. It is June 4 now. I would say a week is more than reasonable. The original request dates back several months now.

What are your thoughts? Do we have unanimous consent for that approach?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

I'd go further. I would put in a line about how she will have a week to provide these answers in writing. If not, we would have her at committee the following week.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

What are your thoughts on that?

Yes, MP Jaczek.

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

Could we see exactly what we were requesting originally?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

It was last year's budget.

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

Was there any particular detail required?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

It was just requesting numbers.

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

It seems puzzling.

I certainly think the letter should include a timeline. We would still have time, possibly, at that point—once we have the information—to see if it's necessary for her to return. I think the letter as you described it, Madam Chair, would be sufficient, with possibly even next Monday, June 10 as the deadline.

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I could say something like “failing which, we will ask you to reappear before committee and provide the answers in person”.

Thank you.

I've restarted your time.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Valerie Bradford]

I restarted it to five minutes.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Thank you.

Witnesses, thank you so much for being here and for your testimony.

I was surprised and encouraged that the Inuit Circumpolar Council started back in 1977. That's a great year. That was the year I was born. More importantly, with all those years—now 47 years—of existence studying climate change in the Arctic, I'd like to hear any concrete research or solutions that are impacting the north right now. What research have you been working on in the last 47 years that people are actually seeing the fruits of in adaptation or different strategies to actually make a difference in the north?

That's for Lisa.

[Lisa Koperqualuk]

I'm sorry. I was waiting to be addressed in order to speak.