US embassy cable - 05QUEBEC109

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUEBEC 000109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EB/CBA DENNIS WINSTEAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BBSR, ECON, ETRD, EINV, EIND, SENV, PBTS, CA, Trade 
SUBJECT: CONSUL GENERAL ATTENDS ARCTIC NUNAVUT TRADE SHOW, MAY 10-12 
 
1.  Summary:  Quebec City Consul General Friedman, whose 
consular district includes the Canadian Arctic Territory of 
Nunavut, attended the annual Nunavut trade show in Iqaluit, May 
10-12.  Over the course of the trade show, she discussed with 
Nunavut businesses as well as GOC and GON officials investment 
and partnering opportunities in Nunavut for U.S. companies. 
Nunavut interlocutors singled out the following sectors as ripe 
for U.S. investment in Nunavut:  Cold weather testing for U.S. 
manufacturers (aerospace, automotive, apparel and defense); 
tourism; mineral and petroleum resource development; and 
alternative energy r&d.  Trade show participants and GON 
Ministers were enthusiastic about the results of Nunavut's trade 
and cultural mission to Boston last fall.  GON Trade and 
Economic Development (TED) Minister Simailak also commented on 
the negative impact of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(MMPA) on the Nunavut economy and stressed the need to maintain 
the BSE exemption for Nunavut caribou and musk ox.  Reftel 
reports on CG's meeting with ICC President Sheila Watt-Cloutier. 
 End summary. 
2. Thanks to BFIF funding, Quebec City CG was able to attend the 
2005 Nunavut trade show in Iqaluit, May 10-12.  That event 
brought together ninety-seven exhibitors from communities 
throughout the Canadian arctic and over a thousand visitors 
(Iqaluit's population is estimated at six thousand). 
Conferences held during the trade show focused on northern 
development; procurement strategies for aboriginal businesses; 
and GON fishing, mining and tourism strategies.  CG took the 
opportunity to articulate U.S. interest in the region, draw 
attention to our Virtual Presence Post for Nunavut 
(www.nunavut.usvpp.gov  ), and 
hand out Mission Canada Foreign Commercial Service brochures. 
3. In meetings on the margin of the trade show, CG discussed 
with various senior officials possible partnering and investment 
opportunities in Nunavut for U.S. businesses.  GON TED Minister 
Simailak told CG that opportunities exist for US tourism 
facility operators to partner with Inuit and Nunavut businesses 
in developing infrastructure and capacity catering to the US 
tourism market.  He cited eco/adventure tourism, sport hunts, 
arctic sport fishing and cruise ships. 
 
4.  Both the TED minister and Education and Technology Minister 
Ed Picco stressed their desire to work with U.S. companies 
interested in cold weather testing in the aerospace, automotive, 
apparel and defense technology sectors.  While they acknowledged 
that competition exists with other Canadian arctic regions, 
Nunavut officials believe that the Iqaluit airstrip, built by 
the U.S. military, might attract the U.S. aerospace giants such 
as Pratt and Whitney to extend their cold weather testing to 
Nunavut.   Minister Simailak also mentioned the desire to see 
more U.S. mineral and petroleum resource investment but he did 
not specify a given site (and we understand that Canadian 
companies are well-along in Nunavut mineral exploration). 
 
Trade Mission to Boston 
------------------------------ 
5.  Minister Simailak said the GON was particularly pleased with 
the results of its trade mission to Boston, which resulted in 
deeper collaboration between Nunavut fisheries and Legal 
Seafood, Inc.  Legal Seafood has basically told Nunavut that it 
will take whatever the region can deliver in terms of fresh 
arctic char.  Cambridge Bay alone received another two thousand 
standing orders for its fisheries products in 2005. 
 
Northwest Passage 
---------------------- 
6.  GON officials are eager to explore with U.S. officials the 
impact and opportunities 
of an eventual opening of the Northwest Passage.  Potential 
subjects worth addressing, 
we were told, include  environmental impact assessments; 
developing international access 
and usage policies and regulations; ensuring that the rights and 
interest of Inuit and 
Nunavut inhabitants are respected; and the potential for 
economic spin offs.  The GON 
favors creating a multilateral working group that would include 
Government agencies 
and stakeholders. 
 
 Miscellaneous 
----------------- 
7. Minister Simailak told CG that the US Marine Mammal 
Protection Act remains a significant trade barrier with direct 
negative impacts on Nunavut sport hunts and on Nunavut's ability 
to export of marine mammal products derived from sustainable, 
subsistence use of Nunavut marine mammals.  Separately, he 
stressed the importance to Nunavut of the BSE exemption for 
Nunavut Caribou and Musk ox, noting that the U.S. market 
represents twenty-five percent of Nunavut's total Caribou 
exports. 
 
BFIF Funding Status 
------------------------- 
8.   Post spent US$2511.26 from a total US$2800 allocated this 
period.