As Iqaluit Arctic Council meeting nears, Aglukkaq touts Canada’s focus as chair

The Arctic Council’s senior Arctic officials and permanent indigenous participants met this past week in Whitehorse, Yukon to prepare for next month’s ministerial meeting in Iqaluit. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

Canada has put northerners at the forefront of the Arctic Council’s agenda — that was the word from Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, who also serves as chair of the Arctic Council.

“Under our chairmanship, the council has prioritized actions that will better the lives of Arctic residents,” Aglukkaq said in a March 5 news release.

That release came after Arctic Council’s senior Arctic officials and the six permanent participant organizations, which represent indigenous peoples around the Arctic region, held their fourth and final meeting during Canada’s council chairmanship from March 2 to March 5, in Whitehorse, Yukon.

When they meet again next month in Iqaluit, along with top ministers of the eight-nation council, the United States will assume the chair.

In Whitehorse, the SAOs and permanent participants heard from the Arctic Council’s working groups and task forces about the council’s work, which includes economic development in the Arctic, promoting circumpolar mental wellness and incorporating traditional and local knowledge into the council’s work.

The council has also focused on marine oil pollution prevention and how to curb those short-lived climate pollutants, such as black carbon (soot) and methane, which accelerate warming in the Arctic.

Many projects and reports were approved for delivery to the April 24-25 ministerial meeting in Iqaluit, the release said.

These include projects “that promote sustainable development, protect biodiversity, enhance emergency preparedness and response, protect the marine environment, and assess and address pollutants in the Arctic,” the release said.

The Iqaluit meeting marks the end of Canada’s second position as chair of the Arctic Council, which was founded in 1996 in Ottawa, as well as the beginning of the second U.S. chairmanship.

The council’s first ministerial meeting also took place in Iqaluit in 1998 at the conclusion of Canada’s first chairmanship.

While in Whitehorse, the Arctic Council also presented a public outreach event at Yukon College focusing on the council’s work to address black carbon and methane emissions in the Arctic and to develop an online climate change adaptation portal.