NUNAVUT
The Arctic Council held a meeting in Iqaluit March 24 and 25 to pass on the chairmanship from Canada to the U.S.

The public would be excused for not noticing though. According to a poll released April 22, the council is not especially well known across its member nations and even less so outside the Arctic.

The council is an intergovernmental forum intended to address issues that are unique to the Arctic, while promoting co-operation, co-ordination and interaction. The council website states almost four million people live in the Arctic. The member nations first met 17 years ago in Iqaluit.

The survey, commissioned by the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program in Canada and the Institute of the North in Alaska, asked a variety of Arctic-related questions to 10,000 people chosen randomly among the eight Arctic nations.

In the Canadian North, roughly one in three people, or 252 people of 770 people surveyed, clearly know about the council. In Nunavut, 45 per cent of those surveyed know Canada has been the chair of the Arctic Council for the past two years. Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq has chaired the Arctic Council since 2013, when Sweden passed on the reins.

In the Canadian south, of 2042 people surveyed, eight per cent know about the Arctic Council, suggesting the council operates in isolation in a world increasingly concerned with Arctic matters.

During Canada's chairmanship, the council's focus was responsible resource development, safe Arctic shipping and sustainable circumpolar communities.

However, briefing documents obtained from Greenpeace point out the Canadian record at home undermines its much-publicized Arctic Council goals.

"Despite the government's claims at the Arctic Council about putting 'Northerners first' and promoting development in the interests of Northerners, at home the Canadian government has pursued many Arctic policies in total contradiction to these stated goals."

Calling attention to the seismic testing approved by the National Energy Board - an issue which was up before federal court last week - the document states "the federal government and Arctic Council chairperson Leona Aglukkaq have supported oil exploration in the waters off Baffin Island, despite unanimous opposition from Baffin Inuit."

Also, between 2012 and 2015 Canada cut funding to political organizations representing Inuit by 71 per cent. Duane Smith, acting president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in 2013 said "at a time when Canada is hosting the Arctic Council ... I find it inconsistent and unconscionable that this same government would seek to reduce Inuit collaboration on projects and weaken efforts to develop vibrant, healthy communities."

The briefing concludes, "While the people of the North were spotlighted in the Canadian government's press materials, under Canada's leadership the Arctic Council has pursued several initiatives and policies that show the real themes of the Canadian chairmanship were promoting the interests of big business, disempowering Northerners, and opposing serious action on climate change."

An independent report titled The Practice and Promise of the Arctic Council, released April 23, reviews the accomplishments and inherent limitations of the council.

Written by Terry Fenge and Bernard Funston, the report explains decisions made at the council are never mandatory and states are at liberty to pull out of agreements at any time.

"The council was set up to discuss, inform and potentially shape decisions by national governments, but certainly not to make them," state Fenge and Funston.

The authors also said it would be "extremely difficult" to evaluate if any of the council's scientific or technical reports ever result in actionable policy.

The Munk-Gordon survey also looked at issues related to Arctic safety and security, set to be one of the major themes of the U.S. chairmanship.

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