The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of September 17, 2018

• Removing barriers to Inuit healthcare

Last week, the Government of Canada, Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Métis National Council announced the first Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework. The  new framework will ensure Inuit children have full access to health and social services. The agencies also announced that Inuit children would immediately be included under the federal government’s Child First Initiative, which was created to reduce barriers that Indigenous families encounter when accessing specialised medical services (CBC).

Take 1: Inuit children were previously excluded from the Child First Initiative because the original initiative only covered First Nations people, who make up one of the other main Indigenous groups in Canada. Although Inuit children are now covered under Child First, the step of creating an additional framework to address the needs of Inuit families is being taken as a good way to ‘right a wrong’ according to Natan Obed, the leader of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (CBC).

• Rural healthcare a priority for voters in Sweden’s North

The votes are in, but who really won? As Sweden grapples with large questions surrounding nationalism, immigration, and the future of politics,one notable shift is clear in Northern Sweden: rural, northern Swedes want rural, northern healthcare. This is clear from turnover from the Social Democrats to the Health Care Party Norrbotten County, which was previously a stronghold for Sweden’s Social Democrats (EOTA).

Take 2: The Health Care Party was opposed to the Social Democrats’ plans to further centralize the Swedish health care system and this hit close to home for Norrbotten County’s residents, who become concerned by cost-cutting measures that reduce rural health services. The party plans to prevent further hospital closures in the region and to maintain health services in rural regions (EOTA).

• Redefining the Sámi in Finland

After months of work, a new act defining the position of Sámi people in Finland has been proposed. The reformed Finnish Act on Sámi Parliament has been submitted to the Sámi Parliament, who will in turn submit it to the Finnish Council of State to be made law if approved (IBO). The intent of the reformed act was to allot Sámi people in Finland more say in decision making that affects their communities directly (IBO).

Take 3: The process has been a slow one. Although the original aim was to have a revised law in place before the elections for the 2019 Sámi Parliament (IBO), next year’s elections will go by current law whether the act is approved or not (IBO). The submission of this act also comes at an important time for Sámi self-determinism in Finland as some Sámi are training in nonviolent resistance and cooperating with groups like Greenpeace and members of the Cree Nation to oppose the influence of outsiders looking to develop the region for projects like I discussed previously in my third take here (IBO, APTN News).

• Franz Josef Land Cleanup

A recent expedition to Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean discovered the presence of plastic wastes on and surrounding the islands. The waste originated both from nearby sources such as fishing and expedition vessels and from southerly currents. A 2017 expedition found similar plastic waste on the islands, however the islands were plastic free until at least 1992 since they were shielded by large pack-ice (Arctic.ru).

Take 4: Finding plastic and other litter on uninhabited islands in areas where litter would not be deposited by ocean currents raises questions about how pollution should be managed and monitored. With the predicted intensification of maritime traffic in Arctic waters, the issue of litter (not to mention other forms of pollution) will only grow, and if left unchecked, will quickly spiral out of control.

• Amid controversy, Clearwater Seafood retains clam quota

Clearwater Seafood has held a monopoly on Arctic surf clams in Canada for 19 years, and after a recent deal with a new company fell through, they will hold the monopoly for at least two more years (The Province). The push to break the monopoly was an attempt to mend Indigenous relations by giving some Indigenous groups part of the quota, but was unpopular in Atlantic Canada where it threatened jobs (CBC).

Take 5: The proposed deal with Five Nations Clam Co. fell through because of a conflict of interest involving Dominic LeBlanc, the Intergovernmental Affairs Minister of Canada, and his first cousin who is involved in Five Nations Clam Co. and would have benefited financially from the decision (The Province). For now, it will be smooth sailing for Clearwater Seafood, but the issue is likely to be revisited after the next federal election.