On October 24, 2018 Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Trent faculty member and Canada research chair in the study of the Canadian north, appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The committee is looking into Arctic sovereignty and how this intersects with Canada’s relationships with Russia, China, and the delineation of our extended continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean – a study done at a time when the Government of Canada is developing a new Arctic Policy Framework, building upon the work of former Trent chancellor Mary Simon and her vision of a new shared Arctic leadership model.

“Canada's Arctic sovereignty is a subject rooted in many misperceptions, and it's less sensational a subject than it's often made out to be,” Professor Lackenbauer told parliamentarians. “We need to embrace the benefits of working with our allies and circumpolar partners to maintain a rules-based order in the Arctic. This does not require amplifying safety and security issues into so-called sovereignty threats that seldom warrant a long-term investment of resources, both material and intellectual. Instead, I would argue, we need to convince Canadians across the country that we already have Arctic sovereignty. We just need the national will to help Northerners realize their dreams for the region as fellow Canadians.”

In his testimony, Prof. Lackenbauer explained that “at the end of the day I would love to see a truly non-partisan agreement to say that we've had a strategy in place for almost 50 years at this point. It's one that has been under both Conservative and Liberal banners and has been generated out of all-party committees including NDP representation over the years. It's Canada's northern strategy. Now let's get around to actually investing and properly resourcing that vision.”

Building on tremendous investments in improving Northern governance over the last 50 years, which have empowered Indigenous peoples and other Northerners to chart their own future with the support of other Canadians, Prof. Lackenbauer emphasizes the need for thinkers to help generate innovative solutions related to climate change, a balanced and sustainable Northern economy, and safety.

“Everybody's identifying that there's a need and there's a desire to do something, yet there is no clear plan … that's actually articulating where relative emphasis should be placed,” he suggests. “If the efforts of this committee and other Government of Canada thinkers begin to articulate a feasible, pragmatic plan that can then be discussed, and challenged, and pursued, that would be of great benefit going forward.”

Prof. Lackenbauer sees Trent, with its established expertise in Northern research and Canadian Studies, as a key academic hub in these discussions.