Arctic sovereignty about people, not military, Layton says
Last Updated: Saturday, September 1, 2007 | 2:14 AM NT
The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Stephen Harper needs to take more steps to deal with economic, social and environmental concerns in the North, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.
Wrapping up a tour that included stops in Iqaluit, Pangnirtung and Cambridge Bay, Layton said Friday that the Harper government is taking the wrong approach to Arctic sovereignty.
"Let's not put so much emphasis on the military approach to sovereignty in the North, let's put emphasis on the people of the North," Layton said in a telephone interview from Yellowknife.
Canada's best claim to sovereignty is the fact that Inuit communities have been established across the North for thousands of years, Layton said.
During his tour, Layton met with Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik, and community leaders and social agencies in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. He said he is supporting a vision created by the three northern premiers in May to tackle climate change and deal with the social ills of the North.
Layton said he will also push for a resource revenue-sharing agreement with the territories once Parliament reconvenes in September.
"There's vast dollars flowing into the coffers in Ottawa, and yet the people of the North are living with living costs and circumstances that really require some of that revenue to be diverted back."
More scientific studies of the Arctic are needed to meet a 2013 deadline to make submissions to the UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which could allow Canada to extend its economic claims farther than 320 kilometres from its shore, he said.
The government needs to make living in the North more affordable by increasing the northern tax credit, and to consult with communities on new military and commercial developments, Layton added.
