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Northern premiers want involvement in missile defense

Premiers hope second co-operation pact will avoid past failures

JANE GEORGE

Paul Okalik and Stephen Kakfwi at a press conference in Ottawa in February, when the three territorial premiers joined forces to pry more health-care money out of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. (FILE PHOTO)

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The three territorial premiers vowed to speak with a united voice on national and international issues that affect Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories last week in Cambridge Bay.

This means taking a stand on the U.S. scheme to ring the hemisphere's northern perimeter with a national missile defense system capable of fighting off an incoming attack.

The premiers said they must be involved in any security or defense negotiations leading to the NMD, because their jurisdictions help assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic.

"We know that we're in the northerly part of the North American continent. Security and defense is a continuing issue, and we're on the front lines, but we're also in the front lines of Canadian sovereignty," said Stephen Kakfwi, premier of the Northwest Territories.

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik echoed Kakfwi's words. They said northern territories must not be "left in the dark."

"We've had discussions about cruise missiles, forward operating bases and the DEW line since the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s. The issue doesn't go away," Kakfwi said.

The territorial premiers have a long list of other items that they also plan to fight for. Fueled by their success earlier this year in demanding - and receiving - more federal money, some $60 million, for health care, the premiers see an opening to, as Kakfwi said, "compel media and southern politicians to pay attention."

"By working together we have made huge strides for our respective jurisdictions," Fentie said.

The premiers' shopping list includes the appointment of new Arctic ambassador to replace Mary Simon, better revenue-sharing and funding formulas, and more involvement in setting Canada's northern foreign policy, security and sovereignty matters, resource development, and climate change strategies.

"If we are to survive we need to work together. This has characterized our history for a long time and it's just as important and imperative as it was 1,000 years ago," Kakfwi said.

But inter-territorial cooperation isn't as easy as the premiers seemed to imply last week.

Only three years ago, shortly after Nunavut's creation in 1999, the three territorial premiers made a similar pact to work together, also called the "Northern Cooperation Accord."

This agreement, as even the premiers acknowledged last week, didn't add up to much - except when they finally managed to put their heads together to seek for more health care money this year.

In 1999, the premiers also said they would fight for more money: royalties from non-renewable resource development in the North, more money to implement self-government agreements, more money for infrastructure, seats on all major national boards or committees, lower Nav Canada fees and stable postage rates for food mail.

But Fentie said a change of government in Yukon after 1999 had fostered the development of "an adversarial relationship" between the territories.

Okalik is the only signatory to the 1999 agreement still in office. He said he was ready to forget the failure of that effort.

"It was unfortunate ... but relations weren't always very productive in the past and we'll let bygones be bygones."

That said, the northern premiers committed to meeting once a year - and promised results on the common issues facing their three territories.

"The challenge is how well we address them, and the key is working together and working well together," Kakfwi said.

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