FAAE meeting 6 · 2025-10-09 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development met on October 9, 2025, to study Canada's Arctic strategy. The witnesses were Jessica M. Shadian, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arctic360, and Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Jessica M. Shadian argued that Canada's Arctic foreign policy is not fit for purpose, as the country has lagged behind allies and adversaries in modernizing Arctic infrastructure and military capabilities while Russia and China have advanced. She recommended that the Arctic foreign policy be aligned with the government's defence and economic missions, that Canada engage in strategic diplomacy through track 1.5 and track two forums supported by think tanks, and that programming go beyond the Arctic Council to include such diplomacy and applied cold-weather innovation research. She also called for a coordinated, mapped approach to infrastructure—linking transportation, energy, telecommunications, social needs and defence—to attract private capital and prioritize projects, disagreeing implicitly with any piecemeal approach.

Natan Obed emphasized that Inuit are the foremost experts on the Arctic and that Canada's homeland, Inuit Nunangat, is the least developed among Arctic states, facing crises in housing, infrastructure, food security and language rights. He recommended that federal budgets include Inuit-specific investments, that the Inuit-Crown partnership committee be used to advance shared priorities tied to budget cycles, and that Canada amend the Immigration Act to allow greater mobility for Inuit across borders with Greenland and Alaska. He also urged that Inuit be included as peers in diplomacy, not just stakeholders, and warned against repeating past mistakes where militarization ignored Inuit rights, stressing that Arctic sovereignty depends on healthy, prosperous communities.

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Witnesses · 2

Jessica M. Shadian

President and Chief Executive Officer, Arctic360

Opening remarks

Thank you, and thanks for the invitation to speak today. Arctic360 is Canada's national Arctic think tank. Our mission is to elevate Canada’s national conversation about our north and the Arctic region and to provide an inclusive and coordinated platform for Canada to engage in Arctic discussions around the world. The question today is this: Does Canada’s Arctic foreign policy ensure GAC is fit for purpose in the Arctic? In a word, no. The AFP was a late reaction to a fundamentally changed world. Fifteen years ago, the Chinese ambassador to Norway gave an Arctic Council reception speech before a balcony of onlookers explaining the Arctic’s importance for China’s national interests, wrapped in a climate science bow. This is not new. Yes, for over a decade, Russia has modernized its Arctic infrastructure and military capabilities to develop resources and control regional access. My simple question is this: Why aren't we doing the same? Our allied Arctic neighbours also spent the past decade modernizing Arctic infrastructure and developing resources. The AFP says, “The safety, security and defence of the Canadian Arctic comprise a fundamental priority for the Government of…

Full testimony ↗

Natan Obed

President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Opening remarks

Nakurmiik. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm Natan Obed. I'm the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. It's great to be here with all of you today. I'm the president of our national Inuit representational organization, and our work is directed by our four Inuit land claim regions, our treaty rights holding members, including the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik, Makivvik and the Nunatsiavut Government. Inuit treaty organizations also advance our priorities internationally through the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the international NGO that represents Inuit across Inuit Nunaat, which is our term for the international Inuit homeland encompassing parts of Chukotka in Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Herb Nakimayak, the interim president for ICC Canada, addressed you last week, and I hope to build on his remarks to you. Inuit are the foremost experts on the Arctic, and Canada would not be an Arctic state without us. Our homeland, Inuit Nunangat, encompasses 40% of Canada's land mass and 72% of its coastline. We either comanage the entirety of that space or own it outright. Our most recent research in partnership with NRCan shows that we also hold 32% of…

Foreign Affairs and International Development

Summary

Witnesses · 2

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