PM Harper to visit Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Manitoba next week

Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Iqaluit this past Feb. 23, announcing $27 million for adult basic education across the three territories, which included $11 million for Nunavut Arctic College. (FILE PHOTO)

Prime Minister Steven Harper will visit Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and northern Manitoba next week for his seventh annual northern tour, the prime minister’s office said Aug. 17 in a communiqué.

The tour will run from Aug. 20 to Aug. 24, the PMO said.

The PMO release does not state the date when Harper will visit Nunavut and northern Manitoba. Harper last visited Nunavut this past February, when he announced $27 million to boost basic adult education across the three territories, at a event held at the Ukkivik residence in Iqaluit.

This year’s Operation Nanook exercise is focused on two locations: Inuvik and the Mackenzie Delta, and in Churchill, Manitoba, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. Harper usually visits Operation Nanook exercises on his summer northern tours.

“Canada’s North is a fundamental part of our heritage and our national identity and a region with unlimited potential,” Harper said in the communiqué.

The release also says Harper’s trip this year will focus on Arctic sovereignty, environmental protection, social and economic development, and “improving and devolving Northern governance.”