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Arctic Council
Background
Established in Ottawa in 1996, the Arctic Council is a high-level forum created to advance circumpolar cooperation. Its mandate is to protect the Arctic environment and promote the economic, social and cultural well-being of northern peoples which it does through its 5 Working Groups. It is comprised of the eight arctic States: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, The Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States.
A unique feature of the Arctic Council is the involvement of six international Indigenous peoples organizations as Permanent Participants: the
Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), the
Saami Council, the
Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), the
Aleut International Association (AIA), the
Arctic Athabascan Council (AAC) and the
Gwich'in Council International (GCI).
Foreign Affairs Canada, through the
Northern Dimension of the Foreign Policy (NDFP) provides funding to the Permanent Participants with Canadian membership so that they may fully participate in Arctic Council activities.
Chair of the Council
The Chair of the Council rotates among the member countries every two years. Canada was the Council's first chair to 1998, followed by the United States to 2000, Finland to 2002 and Iceland to 2004. The Russian Federation is the current chair and will serve until autumn 2006.
Senior Arctic Officials
The work of the Council is supervised and directed by the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials. The Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs, Jack Anawak, is Canada's Senior Arctic Official. The Ambassador calls on the Arctic Council Advisory Committee for input and guidance on Canadian priorities and positions to be brought to the Council. The Advisory Committee includes federal departments, territorial governments, Indigenous Canadian Permanent Participants to the Arctic Council, and non-governmental organizations with an interest in arctic issues.
Canada's Involvement
The Arctic Council has been one of the major drivers for the development of the Northern Dimension of Canada's Foreign Policy (NDFP). Canada is committed to increasing the overall effectiveness of the Arctic Council and the contribution made by Indigenous Permanent Participants, in order to better promote Canadian objectives such as environmental protection, international cooperation and sustainable development.
Canada's involvement with the Arctic Council also includes support for a number of projects, such as:
- A permanent secretariat in Ottawa, for the Sustainable Development Working Group;
- A capacity building strategy led by Natural Resources Canada;
- The Future of Children and Youth of the Arctic initiative;
- Canada provides financial support for priority activities of the five Arctic Council working groups.
Articles
Speeches
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