PANGNIRTUNG, Nunavut – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the military commitment of his Conservative government to the Arctic is not overshadowing the region’s social and development needs.
He says he recognizes there are acute problems in the North, and they are being addressed by what he called his government’s unprecedented community and infrastructure investments.
The comments came Thursday as Harper announced $17 million to accelerate the construction of a harbour in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, a remote, tiny fishing hamlet on eastern Baffin Island.
Later, the prime minister was expected to make an announcement on labour development with the territories.
“The investments we’re making here, while they may not satisfy all of the demands, these on a per-capita basis vastly exceed what we’re doing in the southern part of the country,” he said outside of a community centre in the village of 1,500.
“So this is a series of investments and actions without precedent. I understand people can always criticize the balance, but these are actions without precedent in our history.”
Yet communities throughout the territory face a variety of social concerns, from high unemployment to youth homelessness.
Iqaluit and other communities face chronic power interruptions.
The territorial capital was hit with a two-hour power failure as Harper observed a military exercise from aboard HMCS Toronto in Frobisher Bay on Wednesday.
Harper dismissed some of the more scathing criticism as carping by opposition politicians.
“I know the opposition will criticize us for too much reliance on the military side but, let’s be clear, in every trip I’ve been here, we’ve emphasized not just military, but also the actions we’re taking in economic, social, environmental, development and on governance,” he said
“The Opposition when they were in office did none of these things. We are doing all of these things.”
But Sim Akpalialuk, the economic development officer in this bucolic community nestled among soaring fiords, said establishing a stable and sustainable power supply is his top priority.
The community has been hit with regular outages, including a day-long shutdown of the diesel generator in the middle of winter.
He’s also anxious to see local tradesman employed on the harbour construction project.
The concern throughout the territory is that infrastructure projects are going to southern companies and their workforces.
“The skills are here,” Akpalialuk said. “We’re asking that they hire local.”
Harper acknowledged the concern and said not enough is being done. It’s a matter cabinet considered during its deliberations in Iqaluit this week.
“We have to do everything we can in the generation to come to ensure that Inuit people – residents who are born and raised here – are the principle beneficiary; otherwise opportunity will have passed the territory by,” he said.
