Canadian Coast Guard to increase focus on Arctic through creation of new branch
IQALUIT, Nunavut — The federal Liberal government is turning its face to the North with changes in a major ministry and at the Canadian Coast Guard.
“It is definitely a step toward a northern strategy,” Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Wednesday in Iqaluit, Nunavut. “This is a pretty significant step forward.”
Together with the president of Canada’s national Inuit organization, Wilkinson announced his department and the coast guard will have divisions solely devoted to Arctic affairs.
Responsibility for the North has been divvied up between west, east and central divisions. Having the entire region under one administration will make a big difference, said Natan Obed of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.