High cost of living, lack of investment among chief concerns for those in high Arctic
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CBC
12 hours ago
- CBC
True sovereignty
Amidst all the buzz about the future of the Canadian Arctic, some Nunavummiut believe there's one voice missing — the young generation of Inuit who call this land home. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause By Samuel Wat Jul. 27, 2025 Gazing at the land and water surrounding Apex Beach, Iqaluit's Manu Kunuk reflects on how his home in the Arctic has become a focal point for geopolitical tensions. There's a lot of uncertainty around the world right now, but if there's one thing he's sure about, that's the need for Inuit — and especially youth — to be at the heart of Arctic policy. 'We're the future of the land — we're going to be the next leaders,' he said. Like many Nunavummiut, Kunuk is still trying to learn about the true meaning of Arctic sovereignty, but he believes it starts with protecting the land and the people living on it. From a colonial perspective, sovereignty in Canada's North is often tied to military exercises, major infrastructure projects and defence spending — actions the government takes to show its control of the vast region. Less commonly explored is how Nunavut's communities and the people who live there are already at the heart of Arctic sovereignty. Nolan Qamanirq, from Arctic Bay, doesn't believe there is a word in Inuktitut that truly describes sovereignty, and it's hard to talk about land ownership because his ancestors didn't believe in that. 'The way the term is used today, especially in Ottawa and in places in Iqaluit, it really feels hollow. It's about military presence, mining approvals, transportation corridors. It's really not about what Inuit and communities prioritize,' he said. images expandAlassua Hanson set out on a Students on Ice expedition in the Arctic in 2016. This is one of several avenues she believes helps empower youth to become future leaders. The way the Canadian government is currently trying to reaffirm its borders in the Arctic makes Iqaluit's Alassua Hanson think back to the country's colonial history. 'I find the federal government does control Arctic sovereignty, in a way, because they did try to claim Nunavut before with the missionaries. And Inuit in general were trying to stay on their own land,' she said. These days, Hanson sees an increasing number of meetings, forums and summits about Arctic sovereignty. She believes some of those discussions should also happen inside the classroom and in youth groups. 'I think a lot of youth should be present or should be knowledgeable about ongoing things for Arctic sovereignty. And I don't think a lot of it is taught in school at all,' she said. Giving back to the community Three of Canada's main parties made military announcements in Iqaluit as part of their election campaign blitz earlier this year, but not all of those pledges involved consultation with local leaders. Nunavut's Premier, P.J. Akeeagok said he only learned about the Conservatives' Arctic announcement the day of, and he stressed the importance of consultations. Part of the Liberal government's own announcement in March was to establish three new military hubs in the North, with Iqaluit set to be home to one of them. At the time, the Department of National Defence said the hubs will consist of airstrips, logistics facilities and equipment and are intended to support military aircraft operations and also serve as storage for equipment and spare parts. 'Sovereignty isn't proven by planting a flag or opening a port. It's proven by a community's ability to feed itself, govern itself, and pass on knowledge without interference.' Nolan Qamanirq To many Canadian leaders, Iqaluit is a strategic location for missions in the Arctic. It has a functional airport and seaport that can accommodate both the navy and air force, for example, and it is also home to one of Canada's forward operating locations, which supports temporary missions. Yet Kunuk says he often struggles to find information about Arctic sovereignty and updates to what's happening in the territory. If the Canadian government is serious about sovereignty initiatives, he would like to see more information publicly shared about security developments. 'Hopefully community consultations, maybe even more training [if there is] supposed to be a military base here,' he said. Bringing Inuit into the conversation Despite all the talk, Hanson doesn't see much of a military presence in Nunavut. And when there is, she said she often doesn't see Inuit involved. She said she knows very little about what happens up in Alert, Nunavut, for example — the location of Canada's northernmost military outpost. She knows of a few people who head up there occasionally for work, but very few of them are Inuit. When there are members of the military in town, or people visiting for some Arctic security conference, she hasn't seen those visitors engaging much with the community. 'They could be more involved. They could provide food hampers, they could do a workshop on the meeting and what they're doing here. They could be present in the community rather than holding five day long meetings or get an opportunity to hear from the locals,' she said. She adds that youth should get the opportunity to hear about the results of the work these travellers are doing in the community. Creating global citizens Empowering Canada's future leaders has been a lifelong passion for Geoff Green. He founded Students on Ice (SOI) 25 years ago, which organizes educational expeditions — combining science and traditional knowledge — for youth to learn more about the Arctic. Talking about military spending and nation-building infrastructure projects is all well and good, he said, but he wonders where the investment is for youth. 'You're building a house of cards if you're not also investing in youth … they're going to be the ones we need for an upskilled workforce, and the leadership that's needed,' he said. In his view, a big part of youth empowerment comes from investments in education, plus programs to connect with the land and other youth around the world. He said there are more opportunities for youth nowadays compared to when he first founded SOI, but it's imperative that Canada builds on that. 'So engaging with youth from other parts of the world, seeing their worldviews, their knowledge bases, and having those friendships and relationships formed [early] are critical. We need global youth addressing global issues together,' he said. 'It's an investment in experiential education, which is truly one of the most proven and most powerful forms of education.' Kunuk echoes that sentiment, having been a delegate to international forums in the past, including to the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland last year. 'It really opens the doors for me, especially being here in Nunavut, in an isolated community and territory,' he said. images expandFor Manu Kunuk, Arctic sovereignty means ensuring the people living in the region are healthy and well. No flag or port can replace true sovereignty Ultimately, Qamanirq believes Arctic sovereignty can only exist if Canada recognizes the true priorities of northern communities. 'Sovereignty isn't proven by planting a flag or opening a port," he said. 'It's proven by a community's ability to feed itself, govern itself, and pass on knowledge without interference.' 'I don't think we need more youth leadership programs that teach us how to behave like bureaucrats. We need more programs that teach us our rights in our language, that explain what was negotiated in the land claims and what was left out," he added. Qamanirq also calls on Canada to be more open to partnerships with other countries in the circumpolar world, who share similar interests and challenges. 'If there was a serious attitude about sovereignty in the Arctic, [Canada] would let Inuit strengthen ties across the Arctic without forcing national policy filters. These connections are older than the borders and we shouldn't have to ask permission to remember them.' About the Author Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6 Toll-free (Canada only): 1-866-306-4636 TTY/Teletype writer: 1-866-220-6045 About CBC Corporate Info Sitemap Reuse & Permission Terms of Use Privacy Jobs Our Unions Independent Producers Political Ads Registry AdChoices Services Ombudsman Public Appearances Commercial Services CBC Shop Doing Business with Us Renting Facilities Accessibility It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. About CBC Accessibility Accessibility Feedback © 2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved. Visitez
National Post
20 hours ago
- National Post
Michael Taube: No, Globe and Mail, Mark Carney isn't the second coming of Brian Mulroney
Mark Carney has been prime minister of Canada since March. He's been called many things by many people in this short time period. It never came to mind that he would be described as a 'progressive conservative' along the lines of Brian Mulroney. Article content This, in a nutshell, is the nonsense that the Globe and Mail's editorial board is currently peddling. Article content Article content 'That Mr. Carney was going to drag the Liberal Party back to the centre after years of an NDP-lite government under Mr. Trudeau was to be expected,' a June 28 Globe editorial noted. 'But more than mannerisms have changed. Since April, the Prime Minister has cut personal income taxes, boosted defence spending dramatically, pledged to cut the cost of the federal bureaucracy, tightened immigration rules, eliminated federal barriers to internal trade, created a framework for breaking the stasis on big national projects and signaled that he will dismiss underperforming top bureaucrats,' they wrote. Article content Article content The Globe's editorial board suggested 'that's an agenda that Brian Mulroney could have endorsed.' Article content Article content This analysis likely raised a few eyebrows, and not just in the Mulroney household. Alas, the editorial writers then flipped their collective wig with this bizarre assessment. 'In fact, it overlaps a good deal with the actual governing record of his Progressive Conservatives. Mr. Carney is a Liberal but, in the early going, he looks to be governing much like a Red Tory — a progressive kind of conservative.' Article content We shouldn't be surprised by the Globe's over-the-top analysis of Carney's leadership. It's become the raison d'être of this once-venerable publication to carry water for this particular prime minister. Article content Nevertheless, let's be serious about our national leader. Carney is certainly a progressive, but he's no 'progressive conservative' in any way, shape or form. Article content Left-leaning progressive conservatives, or Red Tories, generally combine two ideological components: classical conservative sensibilities (espoused by High Tories like philosopher Edmund Burke and former U.K. prime minister Benjamin Disraeli) and socialist-type policies such as government intrusion and developing a social safety net. Article content Article content As Gad Horowitz, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, wrote in the May-June 1965 issue of the defunct left-wing magazine Canadian Dimension, 'socialism has more in common with Toryism than with liberalism, for liberalism is possessive individualism, while socialism and Toryism are variants of collectivism.' Article content Article content Modern conservatism has little in common with classical conservatism. The former has largely incorporated classical liberal and libertarian ideals into its main ideology, while maintaining a smattering of social conservative principles related to individuals and families. That's why modern conservatives typically champion small government, lower taxes, free markets, private enterprise, greater individual rights and freedoms and so forth. Article content Carney doesn't fit into these conservative-leaning parameters. His progressive values do fit within the context of the modern Liberal Party of Canada. While he's not exactly the same as Trudeau, I pointed out in a March 16 National Post column that they're 'remarkably similar.' How so? In my estimation, 'they're both left-wing, pro-government intervention, distrust privatization and free markets, favour wealth redistribution, champion radical environmentalist policies, support woke ideology and political correctness — and more.' That's what today's Liberals basically stand for, and Carney's personal and political record fits like a glove.
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
AC shouldn't be first line of defence in maximum temperature law, experts say
Air conditioners in every apartment shouldn't be the first line of defence against extreme heat, experts say, because there's not enough labour to install them in every building quickly, and there's an environmental cost to relying on them. Amid a heat wave in early July, Catherine McKenney, the NDP's housing critic and representative for Ottawa Centre, said they plan to bring a motion to Queen's Park this fall that would cap apartment temperatures at 26 C. "It's not only a question of should we do this — it's a question of can we do this?" said Jeffrey Siegel, a professor of civil engineering at University of Toronto whose work focuses on ventilation and sustainable buildings. As extreme heat events become more common due to climate change, some kind of maximum temperature regulation for rental properties is important to keep people safe, he agreed, but a requirement to install air conditioning in all regulated buildings would face practical hurdles. "One of the best things that we could do is avoid the need for air conditioning by retrofitting our buildings to make them so the maximum temperature is less of an issue," he said. Practical hurdles A shortage of skilled workers would slow the implementation of McKenney's proposed law, Siegel said. "I do this for a living, right? And I can't find a good HVAC contractor," he said. Even if there were enough workers, all those additional AC units could overload the grid, he added. But there are ways to cool an apartment by several degrees without AC, said Marianne Touchie, the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Urban Housing and associate professor at the University of Toronto. Experts don't just measure the temperature of a space, they find its "thermal comfort" level, which is calculated by considering temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation (whether or not you're in direct sun or shade). An apartment could technically be 28 degrees, but might feel like 26 degrees if it's in the shade, windows are closed and a fan is running, Touchie said, explaining that focusing exclusively on the temperature is "overly simplistic." Touchie's work focuses on retrofitting old buildings to find ways to "get a lot more out of them." Retrofit strategies to cool a space include: Adding overhangs, external shades or special coatings to windows to reduce solar radiation. Installing ceiling fans to promote air flow. Planting trees to provide shade. Replacing windows with styles that can open further for better cooling at night. Government stepping in Duncan Phillips, a retired air flow expert with the Guelph-based company RWDI, said even more strategies are available to developers working on new builds, which aren't restricted by existing infrastructure. "If we just spend a little bit more time in design and a little bit more effort during construction, we would save a fortune when it comes to actually occupying the building later on," Phillips said, as occupants wouldn't be paying to run the AC as often. "But if your job as a developer is just simply to get the thing built and flip it, you're unlikely to want to put a lot of effort into design and construction," he added, suggesting that the government provide incentives to developers to build with thermal efficiency in mind. Touchie also believes the government should introduce passive cooling regulations for buildings. "I think there needs to be some sort of legislation [that] you need to have these effective passive elements in your building as part of a retrofit before you're going the mechanical cooling route," Touchie said. It's essential, she said, because over-reliance on AC could worsen climate change. "We're using so much more energy to provide that mechanical cooling," she said. Siegel agreed, noting that when electricity demand reaches peak, "we have to turn on our dirtiest power plants or most expensive power plants." While passive cooling regulations would be more complex than requiring AC installation, they would be more effective in the long term, Touchie said. "If we really want to do this right, it requires a more nuanced approach."
