Untouched and Uninhabited: Conflicting Canadian Rhetoric on the Protection of the Environment and Advancing Northern Economies

Positioning Arctic Canada as central to its political platform, the current federal government has set itself up to be one of Canada’s most northern focused federal regimes in decades. This paper examines the ways that the Prime Minister’s policy speeches portray and frame the Canadian Arctic’s environment and land use, and the extent to which these statements incorporate broader ideas and premises about Arctic Canada. In particular, this involves an examination of the effects of policy portrayals in speeches of Arctic Canada as an untouched and uninhabited wilderness. This feeds into a tension between resource extraction in “isolated” areas as justifiable and the impulse to protect pristine places. This tension is significant, as catering to two very different expectations of land use places the federal government in a difficult position. Furthermore, emphasis on these land use plans may lead to a potential gap between federal government actions and the interests of northern residents, leading to a possible exclusion of northern, and in particular Inuit, priorities.