30 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com
ARCTIC
By mARCello Sukhdeo
Our Changing North,
Our Changing
NortherN Policy
Canada's Arctic is changing, as is Canada's Arctic
policy. What does that mean to national defence
needs and operations in the North? To discuss
that topic, we spoke to Lee Carson, President of
NORSTRAT Consulting and Senior Associate at
Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Ottawa.
Q For those of us not that familiar,
please tell us what we need to know
about Canada's North and how it's
changing.
I'd be happy to. At the most basic level,
let me describe Canada's North in terms
of a redefined acronym: "RSVP". The
North is Remote, Severe, Vast, and Pop-
ulated.
Remote: Sure, Canada's North is far
away from those of us living along Can-
ada's southern border, but it's far more
remote than just the kilometers suggest.
There are no roads, for example, between
southern Canada and any community in
Nunavut. Shipping is only possible in a
short season every summer and fall. And
airfares are very expensive, especially to
and from the small isolated communi-
ties beyond the three Territorial Capitals.
That's why many more Canadians are
more practiced in travel to Europe or Asia
than to our own Canadian Arctic. And
much of the Arctic is beyond our energy
and communication grids of power lines,
pipelines and communication cables, and
in the high north, even beyond the cover-
age range of most of the satellites we take
for granted to provide telephone, internet
and television services.
Severe: We all know it can be cold up
there in the winter, and that the cold can
have an adverse impact both on systems
meant to operate in the North, and the
people required to keep them operating.
But think of a broader definition of severe:
consider the impact of having to deal with
24 hours of darkness in the winter, or cope
