Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 29/99) - Top bureaucrats, spies and soldiers from Ottawa and around the North met in Yellowknife last Friday to hammer out ways to keep Canada's Arctic safe from oil spills, illegal immigrants and other possible disasters.

Representatives from the three territorial governments and over half a dozen federal departments met at Canadian Forces Northern Area Headquarters for the first meeting of the Arctic Interdepartmental Working Group.

Among the federal heavyweights in attendance were Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Defence, Customs, Foreign Affairs and the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIA).

The group will focus on getting departments to work together to keep the Arctic safe from different types of security risks.

"Ten years ago, the Arctic was not very active," said Colonel Pierre LeBlanc, commander of the Canadian Forces Northern Area, and host of the meeting. "Now, activity is very intense. There are more fly-overs, more mining, more tourism."

"The Canadian government is tending toward human security rather than state security," he said. "Many threats to Canada are now human security issues, such as the environment and illegal immigration."

The group formed in May during a symposium on Arctic security issues.

The department officials who attended decided to meet regularly to deal with the new security concerns raised at the symposium.

One of the group's main concerns is the increase in Arctic cruises and flights over the North Pole.

"Last year, we had five cruises. This year, we've had 15," LeBlanc said. "And now, with Russia commercializing its air space, a lot of flights will be going over the Arctic. The shortest flight route from North America to India is over the Pole."

An increase in sea and air traffic could mean an increase in accidents, such as the German cruise ship that ran aground in the Simpson Straight, south of King William Island, in 1996.

None of the 149 passengers were hurt and the ship was pulled to shore, but LeBlanc said it could have been worse.

"There may have been a need to rescue people, or an environmental disaster like an oil spill," LeBlanc said. "We were very lucky."

LeBlanc said dealing with these issues effectively takes teamwork, and that's exactly why the working group has been formed.

"All the departments in the working group know they can do a better job than they are doing now if we co-operate," LeBlanc said.

"For example, the Canadian Coast Guard is looking at strategies for handling a major oil spill in the Arctic," he said. "They need to co-operate with other departments to do this."

Ron Sumanik, a land claims negotiator for the Government of Yukon, said the working group is a "perfect venue" to deal with many of his government's security concerns.

Sumanik said the idea of sharing resources "makes sense."

"With the development of global warming and with further development of the Northwest Passage as a shipping route, it's a concern and an interest. We (in the Yukon) have some coastline, and any traffic will come by us."

The working group is planning to meet next June in Yellowknife, and every six months afterwards in different locations around the North.