Question Period Note: Arctic sovereignty

• The Arctic and Northern Policy Framework guides federal priorities in the North. The international chapter of the Framework sets out priority areas for Canada's international Arctic engagement including:
o strengthening the rules-based international order in the Arctic;
o broadening Canada's international engagement to contribute to the priorities of Canada's Arctic and north;
o and more clearly defining Canada's Arctic boundaries.
• These objectives are also supported through Canada's defense policy Strong, Secure, Engaged, and through key elements of the Oceans Protection Plan.
• These provide a framework to ensure that Canada’s Arctic and northern region remains secure and well defended.

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If pressed on Canada’s engagement at the Arctic Council

• Canada advances its interest in the Arctic through its membership of the Arctic Council, which includes six international Indigenous peoples' organizations from around the circumpolar Arctic, which sit at the table alongside Arctic states.

• Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine has caused alarm across the circumpolar world and has had a significant impact on the operations and direction of the Arctic Council, which Russia is chairing until May 2023.

• In response to Russia’s military action, the other seven member states of the Arctic Council took the unprecedented step of issuing a Joint statement on Arctic Cooperation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on March 3rd, which condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and signaled a strategic pause in their participation in the Arctic Council.

• After examining modalities for allowing work to continue, the other seven member states issued a Joint Statement on the limited resumption of Arctic Council cooperation on June 8th, 2022. Project-level activities that do not involve the participation of the Russian Federation are now proceeding. All other activities of the Council remain on pause.

• CIRNAC is working collaboratively with Global Affairs and the Indigenous, territorial, provincial and federal members of Canada’s Arctic Cooperation Advisory Committee to evaluate the current situation and guide our international engagement.

If pressed on NordGold SE Northquest Ltd:

• Nunavut is home to one Russian-owned gold mining company, Nordgold S.E., which is currently doing exploration work near Whale Cove, Nunavut.

• In 2020, the company published a mineral resource estimate indicating the main deposit on the property contains 1.58 million ounces of gold.

• The project has been reviewed by the Nunavut Impact Review Board, most recently in January 2022.

• CIRNAC’s role related to the mining industry in Nunavut is that of a regulator, and in that capacity we are working closely with the Government of Nunavut to monitor the situation in Ukraine as it evolves and to determine if any future actions need to be taken.