Speech for

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, P.C., M.P.

Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Canadian Northern
Economic Development Agency, and Minister for the Arctic Council

Inaugural meeting of the Arctic Economic Council



Iqaluit, Nunavut
September 2, 2014












Check Against Delivery



Cood mornlng.

l am pleased Lo welcome you Lo Canada's mosL norLherly caplLal clLy.

l recognlze LhaL many of you have Lravelled long dlsLances from across
Lhe clrcumpolar reglon Lo be here Loday, and l Lhank you for
recognlzlng Lhe lmporLance of Lhls week's meeLlngs. lqalulL ls Lhe
largesL communlLy ln nunavuL, and one of Lhe Lhree largesL ln all of
Canada's norLhern LerrlLorles - whlch amazlngly beLween Lhe Lhree of
Lhem accounL for almosL 40 of Canada's land mass.

1he LerrlLory of nunavuL alone, whlch ls Lhe federal rldlng LhaL l
represenL, ls approxlmaLely Lhe slze of all of WesLern Lurope buL only
has a populaLlon of roughly 36,000 people. ?ou can lmaglne Lhe unlque
challenges LhaL such a [urlsdlcLlon would have.

lor example, Lhe communlLles ln nunavuL are fly-ln only. 1haL means lf
lL's a foggy day, Lhe alrplane lsn'L Laklng off and you aren'L leavlng
Lown. CerLalnly clrcumsLances llke Lhls mean dolng buslness ln nunavuL
ls vasLly dlfferenL Lhan dolng buslness ln Callfornla.



Comlng from across Lhe ArcLlc many of you are llkely aware of some of
Lhe challenges faced ln Lhe norLh as Lhey are shared by all ArcLlc
naLlons. 1hese lnclude Lhlngs such as hlgher cosLs of llvlng, hlgher cosLs
of consLrucLlon, skllled labour shorLages, and harsher weaLher Lo name
a few.

lL's Lhese common challenges and experlences LhaL perfecLly
demonsLraLe why Lhe ArcLlc Councll ls so lmporLanL. 8y brlnglng
LogeLher counLrles, sLakeholders, and buslnesses from across Lhe norLh
we have a dlalogue LhaL ls ArcLlc-Lo-ArcLlc and allows us Lo work
LogeLher Lo Lackle common problems. 8y dolng Lhls we make
norLherners Lhe declslon makers whlch ls compleLely approprlaLe as
Lhese declslons affecL Lhem dlrecLly.

lL ls acLually Lhls reason LhaL l flrsL enLered publlc servlce - Lo glve
norLherners a sLronger volce. As l have already menLloned, l am Lhe
Member of arllamenL for Lhe LerrlLory of nunavuL, and l was honoured
when my consLlLuenLs chose Lo elecL me ln CcLober 2008. 1haL same
monLh, Canada's rlme MlnlsLer, SLephen Parper, asked me Lo [oln hls
CablneL. 1he rlme MlnlsLer had [usL appolnLed Lhe flrsL lnuk Lo CablneL
ln Canadlan hlsLory.



8ulldlng on Lhls, ln AugusL of 2012, rlme MlnlsLer Parper appolnLed
me as Canada's MlnlsLer for Lhe ArcLlc Councll.

AppolnLlng a dedlcaLed mlnlsLer who was born and ralsed ln Lhe norLh
reflecLs Lhe lmporLance LhaL Lhe Canadlan governmenL has placed on
Lhe norLh and Lo our ArcLlc Councll chalrmanshlp.

Canada has made a very loud sLaLemenL abouL Lhe lmporLance LhaL we
place upon Lhe LradlLlonal knowledge of norLherners. lurLher, lL
hlghllghLs Lhe lmporLance we place ln allowlng norLherners Lo make
declslons abouL Lhelr fuLure.

lndeed Lhls ls why, when shaplng Lhe prlorlLles and dlrecLlon of
Canada's ArcLlc Councll Chalrmanshlp, l wanLed Lo know how we could
make sure LhaL norLherners are aL Lhe Lable and have conLrol when lL
comes Lo maklng declslons abouL Lhelr fuLure.

1o achleve Lhls l consulLed dlrecLly wlLh norLherners from across
Canada's ArcLlc Lo hear whaL Lhey LhoughL Canada's prlorlLles should
be. AfLer all, Lhe people of Lhe ArcLlc are Lhe world's ArcLlc experLs.



1he ouLcome of Lhese consulLaLlons was slmple: Lhe wellbelng and
prosperlLy of norLherners has Lo come flrsL. As a resulL, we have made
Lhe Lheme of our chalrmanshlp, uevelopmenL for Lhe eople of Lhe
norLh."

1hls ls noL Lo lmply LhaL developmenL musL happen aL any cosL. ln facL
Lhe opposlLe ls Lrue, developmenL has been and musL conLlnue Lo be
done ln an envlronmenLally responslble and susLalnable manner.

WhaL Canada's overarchlng Lheme means ls: 1he ArcLlc ls our home,
Lhe ArcLlc ls where we've grown up, lL's where we have ralsed famllles,
lL's where we have spenL our llves, and lL ls where we wlll conLlnue Lo
llve for generaLlons. So we need Lo prosper and beneflL from acLlvlLles
LhaL Lake place here.

1hls ls why durlng our Chalrmanshlp, we have worked wlLh Lhe ArcLlc
SLaLes and ermanenL arLlclpanLs Lo esLabllsh Lhe ArcLlc Lconomlc
Councll. 1he ALC wlll brlng a wealLh of experlence and knowledge Lo
Lhe Lable Lo faclllLaLe buslness opporLunlLles, Lrade, and lnvesLmenL ln
Lhe besL lnLeresL of norLherners.



LvenLually Lhe ALC wlll be able Lo faclllLaLe dlscusslons and lnformaLlon
sharlng wlLh Lhe ArcLlc buslness communlLy LhaL wlll help sLaLes and
lndlgenous peoples make lnformed declslons ln supporL of responslble
resource developmenL.

1hls ls, of course, ln addlLlon Lo domesLlc efforLs Lo advance and
faclllLaLe responslble developmenL wlLhln Lhe ArcLlc SLaLes. lor
example, ln Canada we have creaLed Lhe norLhern ro[ecLs
ManagemenL Cfflce whlch provldes guldance Lo lndusLry and
communlLles on norLhern regulaLory sysLems and processes. lL
coordlnaLes all federal efforLs Lhrough Lhe enLlre regulaLory revlew
process of ma[or pro[ecLs. And lL Lracks Lhe progress of pro[ecLs Lo brlng
Lransparency, Llmellness and effecLlveness Lo Lhe regulaLory sysLem.

1hese Lypes of domesLlc efforLs Lo encourage susLalnable developmenL
ln Lhe norLh can be complemenLed by creaLlng a governmenL-Lo-
buslness llnk on a larger, clrcumpolar scale.

And Loday, l am proud Lo welcome all of our buslness represenLaLlves
here, Lo Lake Lhe necessary sLeps Lo make Lhe ArcLlc Lconomlc Councll
operaLlonal. l would also llke Lo personally Lhank our Canadlan
represenLaLlves, 1om addon, Lllllan 8rewsLer, and eLer 1apaLal.


lor me, Lhe ALC ls unlque for Lhree reasons. llrsL, lL esLabllshes a
buslness-Lo-buslness neLwork across Lhe ArcLlc, allowlng lndusLrles Lo
share besL pracLlces and Lechnologlcal soluLlons for Lhe beneflL of
norLherners.

Second, Lhe ALC wlll serve as a llnk beLween buslness and governmenL.
1hrough Lhe ALC, buslnesses from across Lhe ArcLlc wlll be able Lo
lnform Lhe work of Lhe ArcLlc Councll, and vlce versa.

And Lhlrd, Lhe ALC, llke Lhe ArcLlc Councll, lncludes ArcLlc lndlgenous
peoples ln Lhe declslon-maklng process. 1hls ensures LhaL Lhose llvlng
ln Lhe norLh are acLlve parLlclpanLs ln Lhe declslons affecLlng Lhelr
communlLles. 8y worklng slde-by-slde wlLh Lhe lndusLry and buslnesses
ln Lhe reglon, we are developlng Lhe norLh for norLherners.

1hrough collaboraLlon and by sharlng besL pracLlces, Lhe ALC wlll help
creaLe made-ln-Lhe-norLh soluLlons. 1hls approach wlll allow
norLherners Lo Lake conLrol of Lhelr fuLure.





1he opposlLe of Lhls ls when we slL back and allow oLher groups Lo Lake
conLrol of our fuLure by puLLlng Lhelr lnLeresLs ahead of norLherners.

erhaps Lhere ls no beLLer example of Lhls Lhan envlronmenLal groups
who ofLen Lry Lo porLray Lhemselves as speaklng for lnulL or Aborlglnal
people whlle aL Lhe same Llme campalgnlng agalnsL LradlLlonal ways of
llfe. 1hese groups do noL base Lhelr campalgns on whaL ls ln Lhe besL
lnLeresL of norLherners, Lhey don'L even base Lhelr campalgns on
sclence. 1hey base Lhem on whaL Lhelr agendas are.

lor example, ln Lhe 1970s some envlronmenLal groups began Lhelr
famous campalgn of mlslnformaLlon agalnsL Lhe seal hunL. 1hls
campalgn was desLrucLlve and porLrayed an enLlre people as lf Lhey
were repulslve.

8ecenLly Lhe prlmary organlzaLlon responslble for Lhls campalgn of
dlslnformaLlon apologlzed by wrlLlng a leLLer Lo Lhe edlLor. An apology
ls nlce buL ln Lhls case lL doesn'L cuL lL. no leLLer Lo Lhe edlLor wlll ever
undo Lhe damage done Lhrough Lhls campalgn.



We need Lo remember LhaL groups llke Lhese have Lhelr own agenda.
1o Lhem norLherners are only Lools LhaL Lhey wlll use Lo achleve Lhelr
goals, once Lhey don'L need us anymore Lhey wlll Lhrow us ouL.

1hls ls a perfecL example of why Lhe approach of Lhe ArcLlc Lconomlc
Councll ls so lmporLanL. We need Lo promoLe ArcLlc-Lo-ArcLlc
opporLunlLles and communlcaLlon beLween our lndlgenous peoples and
buslness communlLy.

We also need Lo encourage more collaboraLlon beLween ArcLlc
parLners. norLherners are experLs on Lhe ArcLlc. When we have a
challenge we need Lo look Lo each oLher for supporL and for besL
pracLlces. When we have concerns or quesLlons, we should ask each
oLher, whaL were Lhe experlences ln oLher ArcLlc naLlons, how dld Lhey
deal wlLh Lhls problem.

1hls ls how we wlll Lruly puL norLherners flrsL - by Laklng charge,
worklng LogeLher, and appreclaLlng Lhe value of our knowledge and
experlences.




WlLh LhaL sald, l would llke Lo Lhank our ArcLlc Councll parLners for all
Lhelr work ln faclllLaLlng Lhe creaLlon of Lhe ALC. 1hls lnlLlal meeLlng of
Lhe ALC ls a hlsLorlc momenL for Lhe ArcLlc Councll ln lLs efforLs Lo
advance susLalnable developmenL ln Lhe ArcLlc.

l would also llke Lo Lhank Lhe buslness represenLaLlves for your
commlLmenL Lo Lhls lnlLlaLlve and for Lhe work you wlll underLake here
ln lqalulL Lo launch Lhls new body. AlLhough Lhls meeLlng ls a key
mllesLone for Lhe ALC, Lhe ALC`s lmporLanL work ls only [usL beglnnlng.

l wlsh you success over Lhe nexL Lwo days as you furLher develop Lhe
ALC's purpose, operaLlons, and nexL sLeps.

l am confldenL LhaL Lhe ALC wlll be a sLrong and effecLlve body LhaL wlll
help enhance pan-ArcLlc economlc cooperaLlon, for Lhe beneflL of ArcLlc
communlLles and lLs people.

1hank you. Cu[anamllk.