[ccebook.cn]The World in 2010

The Americas
Canada's northern goal
Nov 13th 2009
The Arctic is no longer the forgotten frontier
A new hub for the world
Reuters
Canada is a northern nation. “O Canada”, the national anthem, speaks of “true north, strong and free”. But for
most Canadians, 80% of whom live within 200km (124 miles) of the United States border, the Far North
(Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) is a vast area never visited, largely unknown, usually forgotten
and populated only by aboriginal peoples with quaint customs. All that will start to change in 2010.
Pangnirtung, population 1,300, on the east coast of Baffin Island, a settlement mostly known for Inuit art and
a nearby national park, will see construction start on a C$42m ($40.5m) harbour for the small Inuit fishing
fleet. At Gjoa Haven, the only settlement on King William Island, cabins used by polar-bear researchers will be
upgraded. At Eureka, on Ellesmere Island, an atmospheric laboratory will be overhauled. At Iqaluit, capital of
the Nunavut territory, tens of millions of dollars will be spent on badly needed housing, a research institute
and a research vessel.
Add to that oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort Sea; C$100m for social housing; the same sum for geology
research; another C$90m for economic-development projects; C$85m to improve Arctic research stations. The
result is activity such as the Far North, from Alaska in the west to Baffin Bay in the east, has never before
seen. And still to come—delayed by debilitating squabbles among Canada’s shipbuilders and the usual cost
overruns of military projects—are three Arctic patrol ships and a polar icebreaker, plus the publication of plans
for a deep-water port at Nanisivik, on the north coast of Baffin Island. Later in the year, if all goes according
to plan, the federal government will select a community that will get a High Arctic Research Station.
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