An Inuit leader says the federal government needs to actively engage the people of the Canadian North on the issue of Arctic sovereignty in order to dispel Russian claims to the area.
Mary Simon, president of national organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told CTV's Question Period that her people are ready to get involved in surveillennce of the region.
"We are Canadians, we are full taxpayers, we hold Canadian passports and are permanently Canadian residents," Simon said of the Inuit people.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is set to visit the North next week where he is expected to discuss sovereignty and security with northern leaders.
Earlier this week, a Russian atomic icebreaker ploughed a route to the North Pole through a sheet of multi-year ice, paving the path for the Akademik Fedorov research ship to follow.
In a symbolic gesture, a Russian flag was dropped onto the seabed, in an attempt to bolster claims to about 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic shelf.
According to some estimates, the Arctic may contain about 9 billion tonnes of oil and gas deposits.
Last month, Ottawa said it plans to spend $7.5 billion to build up to eight patrol ships designed to operate in the frozen region in a bid to help protect its sovereignty.
More opportunities for youth
Simon says the only way to ensure Canada remains the sole owner of the land is to engage the Inuit people in securing the area for future generations.
"I would encourage the government of Canada to make the choices to enable us as a country to have the right type of surveillance, but part of the surveillance is about people," Simon said.
"I think there are very innovative ways of making sure that surveillance takes place without costing millions and million of dollars. The people up in the Arctic, the Inuit, we hunt and we fish and we gather and we are always out on the land."
She suggested that working through land claims issues and securing healthy communities and providing more opportunities for young people will prompt the Inuit to remain in the area.
Simon said that the Inuit people are not urban dwellers and will remain in the Arctic for generations to come.
"We have everything to lose, it's our homeland. We've been there for thousands of years. In fact, the Inuit of Canada were moved to the high Arctic to assert Canada's sovereignty," Simon said.
Canada not doing enough?
In a letter to Harper, NDP Leader Jack Layton said that the prime minister is not doing enough to secure the area.
"The Russian mission to place its flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole demonstrates a troubling reality for Northern communities and all Canadians concerning Arctic sovereignty,'' Layton said in the letter sent Sunday.
"Canada must move quickly to make immediate, strategic investments in its Arctic and recognize that the greatest challenges in the North are social, economic and environmental,'' said Layton.
Critics say Ottawa has done little since 2003, when Canada signed an international treaty that set a 10-year deadline for coutries to stake out their territory in the polar sea.
Five Arctic countries -- Canada, Russia, the United States, Norway and Denmark -- control an economic zone within 320 kilometres of their continental shelf.
Ottawa has long maintained that Canada's sovereignty over the lands and waters of the Canadian Arctic is well-established and a key part of Canadian identity.
With files from The Canadian Press
