The federal government's new strategy for Canada's North may be a case of political posturing, at least one Arctic sovereignty expert has suggested.

The Northern Strategy, released on Sunday, promises to assert Canada's sovereignty over its resource-rich Arctic lands and waters, while addressing the need for jobs, housing and a clean environment in the region.

But Michael Byers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, said the strategy offered little in the way of new initiatives and announcements.

Byers said it also failed to mention the government's recent moves to suspend some Arctic sovereignty programs, such as the Northern Watch pilot program to test surveillance technology in the High Arctic.

Another federal program, the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship Project, was suspended even as melting sea ice opens up the Northwest Passage to foreign marine traffic, Byers told CBC News.

"One really has to question the validity of this Northern Strategy document as a snapshot of what the government is actually doing, if we have these contradicting reports that suggest that some of the big-ticket items and the high-profile promises made in the last few years are actually in a state of suspension today," he said Monday.

'Repackaging past promises'

Under the strategy, the government said it would expand the Canadian Rangers force by 900 members, a promise first announced two years ago. It also reiterated a promise, first made last month, to create a reserve Armed Forces unit in Yellowknife.

"Repackaging past promises and putting nice pictures around them doesn't address the crying need to have a real presence and effective surveillance in Canada's northern waters," Byers said.

Between the army and the Canadian Rangers, Byers said it's important that the North have the capacity to carry out search-and-rescue operations.

Another Arctic sovereignty expert, Rob Huebert of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said the strategy appears to be more of a summary of policies than an announcement of anything new.

Nevertheless, Huebert said it is important for the federal government to write down and declare its strategy, both as a message to other countries and as a way for Canadians to see what has been implemented.

"Hopefully, this document will basically allow us some form of holding the government accountable for the requirement that has to be commenced today," he said.

'The drum is beating'

Northern leaders said they hope Ottawa's new strategy will mean existing aboriginal land claims will be fully implemented in their territories.

In Nunavut, land-claim organization Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is calling on the federal government to ensure the territory's Inuit land claim is fully implemented — a longtime contentious issue between the group and the government.

"The good part is the drum is beating. Things are happening," NTI president Paul Kaludjak said.

"As you know, the governments have taken a long time for things to get things to turn around sometimes, and it's part of reality. And I hope those things will happen soon, but we will have continued hope to make sure that living conditions in Nunavut improve as fast as possible."

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie said the strategy will clear the way to negotiate new arrangements between the federal government and Yukon First Nations, many of which have land-claim and self-government agreements.

"The next step that we must conclude, and that is specific to Yukon, is the finalization of the implementation mandate for our treaties here, and a new financial transfer agreement with self-governing First Nations," Fentie said.

Fentie agreed with the belief that having a clearly defined statement of the federal government's northern policies could only help the region.