Securitization, Borders, and the North: A Regional Approach
- Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Building: Kerr House
Room: Seminar Room 102
The Frost Centre is pleased to announce the fPhD in Canadian Studies dissertation defence of Karen Everett "Securitization, Borders, and the North: A Regional Approach"
Committee: Heather Nicol(Supervisor), Martin Geiger (Carleton University), Christian Leuprecht
Internal/External: Kristy Buccieri
External Examiner: Douglas Nord, Umea University, Sweden
Chair: Whitney Lackenbauer
Securitization, Borders, and the North: A Regional Approach
Canada takes a national approach to border management. This ensures that security practices are consistent across the country, it also fails to consider that different regions in Canada may have different border needs. This dissertation, therefore, seeks to determine if border management priorities in Northern Canada are the same as in Southern Canada, along the 49th parallel.
To make this determination, three sets of federal government documents are analyzed. First documents associated with the current Beyond the Border Action Plan are explored to better understand security priorities and if regions are considered. Next, documents that are associated with Northern security and regional governance are analyzed in order to illuminate regional security issues and determine where borders fit within this narrative. The final set of documents to be examined are Senate reports on Northern security, as they can provide a glimpse into how regional security agendas as set. Grounded Theory is used to illicit key themes from all documents and Political Discourse Analysis is applied to the Senate reports to assess the strength of securitizing arguments for the region. Securitization Theory and the Copenhagen School’s five security sectors are used to frame the analysis. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s security priorities and the extent of the interplay between the sectors. The concept of Regional Security Complexes are also addressed to determine the extent to which bilateral border cooperation exists in the North.
Analysis reveals that border security priorities are not the same in the North as they are in the South. In the North, greater emphasis is placed on protecting maritime borders, whereas in the South, land and air borders are prioritized. Beyond the Border aligns more closely with the needs of the Southern border, thus leaving a policy and security gap in the North. Bilateral border and security cooperation is also much more prevalent in the South than it is in the North. This research concludes with three policy suggestions to close the gap and addresses the extent to which it is in Canada’s interest to work more closely with the United States in the North.
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Cathy Schoel
Posted on September 19, 2018