Prime Minister Justin Trudeau injected a dose of electoral politics into an announcement Thursday in Canada’s Far North, taking aim at his Conservative rival while unveiling details on two marine protected areas.

Mr. Trudeau used the trip to showcase some of the most dramatic effects of climate change to promote the Liberal government’s record on climate action ahead of this fall’s federal election.

Later on Thursday, he will also attend a nomination meeting for his party’s candidate in Nunavut.

Mr. Trudeau began the day by making an announcement about a now-finalized marine protected area near Arctic Bay – an Inuit hamlet on the northwest corner of Baffin Island – known as the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area.

He also unveiled first steps to create a protected zone on the northwest coast of Ellesmere Island that will be known as the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area.

Tuvaijuittuq means “the place where the ice never melts,” but melting sea ice and increased shipping traffic have posed increased threats to many important local species, including sea birds, narwhals and bowhead whales.

Canada now has protection measures in place for almost 14 per cent of its marine and coastal areas that span more than 427,000 square kilometres – an area larger than Newfoundland and Labrador. The Liberals had targeted protecting 10 per cent of Canada’s marine and coastal areas by 2020.

Read full article