Greenland tensions sharpen focus on Arctic infrastructure gaps in Canada

Geopolitical tensions around Greenland and Russian activity in the North have refocused political attention on Arctic Canada, exposing long-standing infrastructure gaps that are undermining community well-being and national security, the president of Canada’s national Inuit organization said.

"Many times the rhetoric completely excludes Indigenous peoples and Inuit in our homeland," Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said in an interview Wednesday in Tromsø, Norway.

Rather than investing in stand-alone military installations, Obed said, Ottawa should invest in dual-use infrastructure such as airstrips and ports that would serve northern communities and also support Canada’s military when needed.

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Obed contrasted Canada’s approach with Greenland, where Inuit political leaders take part directly alongside Denmark in international security and diplomatic discussions, citing Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt joining Denmark’s foreign minister in Washington D.C. in January during talks aimed at easing tensions over Greenland.

"In Canada, we would never see Foreign Affairs Minister (Anita) Anand walk into a room in the United States with a democratically elected Indigenous leader as her equal," he said. "That’s the type of thing that needs to change."

Obed said that exclusion also overlooks one of the Inuit’s core contributions to Arctic sovereignty, the long-standing pan-Inuit ties across the Arctic despite national borders.

"We’re very fortunate that we have mobilized together across Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the Chukotka region of Russia through the Inuit Circumpolar Council," he said.

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