CBC North: New Canadian navy ships to be affiliated with Inuit communities
In a move designed to deepen ties with Inuit Nunangat — the Inuit regions of Canada — the Government of Canada has announced each of its six new Arctic offshore patrol ships will be affiliated with Inuit and Inuvialuit communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and the Inuvialuit settlement region.
The first affiliation was announced Monday in Iqaluit, tying HMCS Harry DeWolf to Nunavut’s Qikiqtani region, which includes 13 communities on Baffin Island and throughout the Arctic archipelago.
Affiliation was described as an important naval tradition in a press release Monday.
“It’s an exceptional opportunity to create long-lasting relationships with the local communities as our navy gets ready to operate more fully in the North,” said Commodore Richard Feltham, director general of naval force development.
“[It’s] an opportunity we can’t waste and we have to build a foundation of relationships and common understanding as we move forward. It’s a great opportunity and an honour.”
The six new navy vessels come at a cost of $3.5 billion. Two more vessels were recently ordered to buttress the Canadian Coast Guard. Last week the federal government filed a claim to sovereignty over a region that includes the seabed beneath the North Pole.
Nunavut Premier Joe Savikataaq said it was important for Canada to assert its sovereignty over Arctic waters and waterways.
“Some foreign countries have stated … it is international waters,” Savikataaq said. “The federal government — and we within Nunavut — disagree with that. It is within Canada, it is Canadian waters. If the navy has a presence in those waters it just reinforces it is our waters.”
P.J. Akeeagok, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, said in the press release that the association “welcomes the future HMCS Harry DeWolf “in a “spirit of reconciliation.”
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