Russian invasion ‘a terrible blow to Arctic co-operation’, says Nunavut senator
Sen. Dennis Patterson addresses war in Ukraine at Arctic360 conference in Toronto
Nunavut Sen. Dennis Patterson (left) appeared virtually alongside former foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay in an address to the Arctic360 conference in Toronto on March 10. Patterson condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “terrible blow” to co-operation among Arctic nations. (Photo by Madalyn Howitt)
Nunavut Sen. Dennis Patterson called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a terrible blow to Arctic co-operation” during his virtual address to Arctic360’s Arctic Infrastructure Investment Conference last week.
This year’s conference, themed “Where Infrastructure Investment Meets Diplomacy,” was an opportunity for governments, Indigenous organizations and the private sector to meet at the University of Toronto’s Faculty Club to discuss Arctic initiatives. It ran from March 9 to 11.
But concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on Arctic diplomacy loomed large over the conference. The invasion was the subject of a March 10 forum led by Patterson and former Conservative foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay.
Both speakers appeared virtually.
Patterson said he is concerned that the invasion will have long-lasting impacts on the Arctic Council’s ability to collaborate.
The Arctic Council is a leading inter-governmental forum for the world’s Arctic states to discuss issues that matter to them.
“Canada led the development of the Arctic Council which set aside military and security issues to focus on collaboration … recognizing the Arctic nations have so much more in common with each other than with their southern reaches,” Patterson said, listing examples like search and rescue, oil-spill response, climate change, the Arctic fisheries and social issues like mental health and suicide.
“Now, we’ve got the decision to pause the Arctic Council, ironically, when Russia was the chair. The years of trust and goodwill have been shattered at the national level.”
Patterson said he fears that the growing isolation of Russia could deprive the Arctic Council of the “vital participation of a huge and influential Arctic state.”
He said, however, that the invasion has given Canada “a wake up call” to the threats the country potentially faces.
“Canada is going to have to step up and no longer be caught flat-footed,” he said.
MacKay echoed Patterson’s comments, saying Russia’s “aggressive, illegal, maniacal invasion of Ukraine” has “melted the trust and the connectivity” from other Arctic nations.
Russian representatives were originally slated to participate in a panel scheduled for March 10, but were removed in response to the Feb. 24 invasion.
The remaining panelists, which included diplomats from Canada, the U.S., Greenland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, applauded the decision.
There’s lots more that Canada, NATO and the EU can do about the situation in Ukraine. It just requires some imagination. For example.
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They could grant asylum to any and every Russian soldier in Ukraine who asks for it. It will cost a lot less to host 100,000 Russians than 5,000,000 Ukranians. It will aslo stop the destruction of Ukranian cities.
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Another thing that can be done is shell Russian positions with special packages that explode, disbursing US currency. $1, $5, $10, $20. Having money will encourage asylum requests. The special shells could include asylum visas written in Russion, Ukranian and English.
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Explode some of these shells ahead of the Russian positions, so the advancing soldiers will be distracted, hunting for money, rather than Ukranian forces.
Having been a young person during the Vietnam War, Dad and me would take in the evening news of the days events, it wad like a sporting event, propaganda. Today that is stepped up a notch, more sophicated. The news is cut paste flashes with little context, propaganda for the public. In war horrible things happen, vets tell us, peace not more conflict need to be at the top of everyone’s mind. Propaganda will not get us there.