US embassy cable - 04QUEBEC184

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUEBEC 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, SENV, MARR, CA, Environment, Missile Defense 
SUBJECT: NUNAVUT TERRITORY:  AMBASSADOR'S OCT. 4-7 VISIT 
 
1. Summary:  During an October 4-7 visit to Iqaluit, the capital 
of Nunavut Territory, the Ambassador met with a range of 
federal, provincial and municipal officials, as well as with 
representatives of the Inuit community.  Climate change and 
restrictions on seal hunting topped the list of our 
interlocutors' concerns, but missile defense also came up, 
favorably, as did control of the Northwest Passage through the 
Arctic.  On climate change, the Ambassador said the Kyoto 
Protocol is not a panacea and made the point that the U.S. is 
putting more money into responding to climate change than Europe 
and Japan combined.  On sealing, the Ambassador showed 
understanding of the adverse impact of the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA) on traditional Inuit culture and 
encouraged the Inuit to work with the government of Canada to 
put this on the GOC's agenda.  End summary. 
 
Background 
-------------- 
 
2. Created in 1999, Nunavut is Canada's youngest territory.  The 
region's arctic climate, vastness and isolation, coupled with a 
bottoming out of the Inuit's traditional sealing and hunting 
economies, result in a Territory heavily dependent upon federal 
subsidies and plagued with social ills (e.g., the suicide rate 
is estimated at anywhere from one out of five to one out of 
eight of the adult population).  Nunavut officials are making 
trade-based education a priority.  Nunavut also is saddled with 
a complex set of overlapping bureaucracies:  the Government of 
Nunavut represents all of the people of Nunavut while Nunavut 
Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), established under the 1993 Nunavut 
Land Claims Agreement (NLCA), defends Inuit interests and 
oversees the 1.14 billion dollars transferred by Ottawa under 
that Agreement.  Ironically, although Inuit comprise 85 percent 
of Nunavut's population of 28,000, they are clearly in a 
minority in the leadership of both NTI and the GON. 
 
Marine Mammal Protection Act 
-------------------------------------- 
 
3.  In every meeting, officials raised with the Ambassador the 
devastating effect of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) on 
Inuit society and on the economy.  Deputy Premier Levinia Brown 
said that sealing is essential to the Inuit, who use all parts 
of the seal for food, clothing and heating oil.  She 
distinguished Nunavut sealing from the slaughter of baby seals 
in Newfoundland, decried throughout the world.  The Deputy 
Premier said the GON wants the MMPA amended, to recognize the 
unique situation of the Inuit people.  GON Minister of Education 
Ed Picco (a former Hudson Bay trader himself) told the 
Ambassador that Nunavut hunters used to be self-sustaining but 
that since the 1972 passage of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection 
Act, sealing is no longer economically viable.  The dependence 
of Inuit hunters on government handouts has soared from about 20 
percent of the population thirty years ago to 80 percent today. 
According to the Minister, the difficulty for the Inuit in 
transitioning to a modern economy is reflected in a host of 
social problems in the region, from a high suicide rate, to 
alcoholism and domestic violence.  Picco said the GON has been 
working to promote Nunavut's sealskin products but that it was 
time to put the MMPA back on the table.  The Ambassador 
responded that it was important for decision makers in Congress 
to know all of the facts and that he would report to the State 
Department the GoN's concern.  He cautioned that it is difficult 
to change a law once it has been passed and that there are 
powerful lobbies backing the MMPA.  The Ambassador noted that, 
for the GoN to succeed, the GoC would need to make amending the 
MMPA a priority in its dealings in Washington.  NTI 
representatives thanked the Ambassador for his suggestions and 
said that the Nunavut Sealing Strategy would be coming out 
shortly and NTI would make sure that it is presented to federal 
Canadian authorities. 
 
Climate Change 
------------------- 
 
4.  Nunavut interlocutors also raised the impact of global 
warming on the arctic climate.  Minister of the Environment 
Akesuk told the Ambassador that Pangnirtung used to have ten 
months of winter and that this has shrunk to roughly three 
months.  There are major storms even in periods of warm weather. 
 Different animals are also now appearing in the region and 
hunting has been adversely affected.  Akesuk said that the GON 
has endorsed the climate change strategy under the Kyoto 
protocol but that climate change is a global issue that Nunavut 
cannot tackle alone.  For this reason, the GON is focusing less 
on halting climate change and more on readying itself for the 
future under changed climate conditions.  (The GON, for example, 
is looking at how it may need to approach building construction 
once the permafrost disappears.)  The Ambassador stressed the 
U.S.'s leadership role on climate change.  The U.S. is spending 
more on addressing climate change than Europe and Japan 
combined, he said, and the administration wants to respond to 
global warming based upon sound science and the transformative 
power of technology. 
 
Missile Defense 
------------------- 
 
5.  In addition to climate change and the MMPA, NTI officials 
also raised missile defense.  NTI C.O.O. Richard Paton said NTI 
understands that the USG does not at this stage plan to use any 
region of Canada for missile defense but that this could change 
should missile defense move forward and Canada is asked to 
participate.  If Nunavut were to be used for missile defense, 
Paton wanted the U.S. to be aware that the Nunavut Land Claims 
Act provides for preferential treatment of Inuit contractors. 
Paton did not express opposition to missile defense but rather 
stressed that NTI would like to see a missile defense program 
that "minimizes the environmental impact and maximizes the 
economic benefit to Nunavut."  They would want Nunavut/Inuit 
representatives in all phases of discussion.  NTI officials 
cited the Denmark and Greenland agreements on missile defense as 
positive models.  (Comment:  NTI's position on U.S. missile 
defense reflects the generally positive attitudes in Nunavut 
toward the U.S. military, which is remembered for having 
contributed extensively to Iqaluit's infrastructure, including 
construction of the Iqaluit airport in 1947.  End comment.) 
 
Northwest Passage 
---------------------- 
 
6.  NTI officials also asked whether the U.S. might change its 
position on the Northwest Passage through Arctic waters.  The 
Ambassador noted in his meeting with NTI officials (and later 
that day in a radio interview with a local CBC reporter) that if 
the Northwest Passage is considered to be international rather 
than Canadian waters, it becomes more difficult to check for 
terrorists.  The Ambassador said that he has made this point to 
Washington but that it was not clear at this point whether the 
U.S. would change its position and support Canadian control of 
the Northwest Passage based upon terrorist considerations.  NTI 
said that for the Inuit, the question is environmental, and they 
feel strongly about it. 
 
 
 
FRIEDMAN