Arctic Foreign Policy Document
Canada's 37-page Arctic Foreign Policy (AFP) is divided into several sections: Forewords; Executive Summary; Strategic Challenges in the Arctic; Arctic Foreign Policy Pillars; and Conclusions.
From
the Forewords written by Canada's Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly
and Defence Minister Bill Blair, it is immediately evident that the AFP
is not about upholding peace or ensuring security for all circumpolar
nations, or engaging on the basis of mutual benefit with countries that
are interested
in what the region has to offer humanity. It is about carving out an
exclusion zone they called the "North American Arctic" with U.S.
hegemonic interests at its centre. It repeatedly and specifically
targets Russia and China as inherently hostile and existential threats
to the
"liberal-rules-based international system." The countries that espouse
this so-called rules-based international system are the very same that
are fueling the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza, which the peoples of the
world vehemently oppose. It is not in their interests or the interests
of working
people in Canada and Quebec to defend such profoundly inhuman
arrangements.
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, in her Foreword, claims that "the guardrails that we have depended on to prevent and resolve conflict [in the Arctic and northern regions] have weakened." Joly cites the proxy war in Ukraine instigated by the U.S./NATO that is aimed at encircling Russia. She calls it "Russia's illegal war in Ukraine," saying the situation has made cooperation with Russia "on Arctic issues exceedingly difficult for the foreseeable future. Uncertainty and unpredictability are creating economic consequences that Canadians are facing everyday." In fact, Russia held the rotating chair of the Arctic Council from 2021 to 2023, but was effectively barred from carrying out its duties by the other seven council members -- Canada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. -- who cited its special military operation in Ukraine.
Joly's Foreword echoes the language of the Five Eyes security agencies in talking about "foreign influence." She writes: "Threats to Canada's security are no longer bound by geography; climate change is accelerating rapidly; and non-Arctic states, including China, are also seeking greater influence in the governance of the Arctic. To respond, Canada must be strong in the North American Arctic, and it requires deeper collaboration with its greatest ally, the United States. Canada must also maintain strong ties with its five Nordic allies, which are now also all NATO members." In other words, the North American Arctic is a regional bloc of the war alliance NATO.
Defence Minister Bill Blair in his Foreword elaborates on how the AFP is part and parcel of U.S./NATO war preparations in the Arctic. He states:
"The Arctic Foreign Policy complements the work and investments outlined in our new defence policy update Our North, Strong and Free, which was developed in part as a response to the emerging threats in the Arctic and around the world. Our North, Strong and Free focuses on Canadian values and strengths while underpinning our Arctic and Northern sovereignty, strengthening our diplomatic influence, and leveraging our world-leading cyber and space talent. It reinforces our capabilities and capacity in the region, in partnership with those who live there.
"Canada
remains committed to contributing to NATO and NORAD's awareness of the
threat environment across the Arctic region, including in the North
American Arctic. We likewise support the continued leadership of
like-minded Arctic states on matters of security and defence.
"The Arctic security and continental defence investments made in Our North, Strong and Free and NORAD Modernization support NATO's deterrence and defence agenda by protecting the Alliance's Northern and Western flanks. It ensures that Canada can engage in the world and deploy from a secure base in support of NATO allies, when needed."
The Foreword from Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal proclaims how the AFP builds on the International Chapter of the 2019 Arctic and Northern Policy Framework (ANFP), which he says was "co-developed with over 25 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis governments, organizations, and territorial and provincial governments." All of it to say that there is no contradiction between the war aims of the AFP and the Indigenous Peoples of the north.
The Executive Summary indicates that as part of the AFP, Canada will:
"- appoint an Arctic ambassador
- open a new consulate in Anchorage, Alaska
- open a new consulate in Nuuk, Greenland
- initiate an Arctic security dialogue with the ministers of foreign affairs of like-minded states in the Arctic
- expand information sharing with relevant territorial and provincial governments and Indigenous leaders on emerging and developing international Arctic security trends, including foreign interference threats
- support science and research coordination initiatives with foreign policy considerations as related to research security and science in the Arctic
- launch boundary negotiations with the United States regarding the Beaufort Sea and finalize the implementation of the boundary agreement between Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark regarding Tartupaluk (Hans Island)"
The section of the AFP called "Strategic challenges in the Arctic" outlines five major points:
1. Russia since 2022
2.
Evolving security threats across the Arctic
3. Adapting to new
dynamics for Arctic governance
4. Climate change: the
overarching threat
5. Increasing challenges to Arctic states'
primacy
The section is full of the usual disinformation about the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine. It says that because of this, "Canada must be clear-eyed about the implications of its geographic proximity to Russia."
It goes on to decry cooperation between Russia and China on a thinly-veiled Cold War anti-communist basis:
"Russia's historic posture has been to ensure sovereignty and control over its own Arctic region and to limit the role of non-Arctic states in Arctic affairs. However, because of sanctions and of its massive expenditures on its illegal war against Ukraine, Russia is increasingly reliant on China to fund and support the development of its projects in the Arctic. These include investments in Arctic research, oil and gas development, ports and other critical infrastructure. We anticipate this trend will continue and lead to increased activity by China in the Russian Arctic.
"Russia and China are aligned in their desire to undermine the liberal-rules-based international system [...]"
The section entitled "Evolving security threats across the Arctic" talks about how "the risk of military attack in the North American Arctic remains low." It immediately launches into fearmongering based on claims of Russian and Chinese threats that it cannot substantiate, à la Chicken Little -- Russia and China exist and have their own interests and carry out their independent activities on this basis, therefore the sky must be falling. The AFP claims, "Canada is seeing a number of potential threats, including increased Russian activity in Canadian air approaches, China's regular deployment of dual-use -- having both research and military application -- research vessels and surveillance platforms to collect data, and a general increase in Arctic maritime activity."
Despite all the talk about sovereignty and national interests, the entire AFP is based on the premise that Canada's security is based on being absorbed into the U.S.: "Close partnership with the United States is essential to the maintenance of a secure, strong and well-defended North American homeland, on which the two countries' mutual prosperity depends." This concept of a North American Homeland and its defence is utterly foreign to ordinary working people in Canada and Quebec. It is not going to fly.
In the section "Adapting to new dynamics for Arctic governance," Canada talks about the Arctic Council as "the pre-eminent forum for international Arctic cooperation and governance. It brings together the eight Arctic states, the six Permanent Participant organizations representing Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic, and observers to address sustainable development and the environmental protection of the Arctic." Again, Russia is singled out, and it says that "like-minded countries are taking coordinated action to ensure it is not business as usual with Russia" and that "Canada will not allow Russia to undermine, through its actions, the pillars of international cooperation in the Arctic."
The section "Climate change: the overarching threat" says that "Climate change is both the most pressing and the most proximate threat to Canada's security in the Arctic and the people who live there. Its causes and effects are not bound by countries' official borders." Besides the obvious effects on the natural environment and communities of the north, the AFP continues its fearmongering about other countries: "With retreating sea ice and new technologies improving navigation and accessibility, foreign activity in the Arctic will continue to increase, bringing with it related safety, security and environmental challenges. With other Arctic states, Canada must be prepared to respond."
The section "Increasing challenges to Arctic states' primacy" has a particular anti-China focus as a threat to the North American Arctic. The AFP claims:
"China seeks to shape the international order into a more permissive environment for interests and values that increasingly deviate from Canada's commitment to a rules-based international system. China can be expected to use all the tools at its disposal to advance its geopolitical interests, including in the Arctic. Canada will challenge China when it ought to and cooperate when its interests align with China's."
Suffice to say, that the entire AFP carries on in this vein of upholding U.S. imperialist aims and dedicating public monies and Canada's resources to the militarization of the Arctic. That because the U.S. is the indispensable nation, there is no concept of Canada's sovereignty, security and national interests in the Arctic (or anywhere else) that is not subsumed within U.S. aims for the "North American Arctic."
To read the AFP in full, click here.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 12 - December 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M540127.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca