Stephen Harper will visit Nunavut next month
Fulfilling an election promise to create a new regional economic development agency for the North, Stephen Harper will visit Canada's Arctic next month.
In addition to watching a major military exercise in the North, the Prime Minister will visit Nunavut to announce that the new development agency will be based in Iqaluit, rather than Yellowknife, where some ministers had argued the $50-million initiative should be located.
The two developments -- the presence of hard power and a new federal agency to broaden the economic base of the North--are not unrelated. The theory is that the surest way to assert sovereignty in Canada's Arctic is to have a viable economy and a growing population. The government will further reinforce its Arctic credentials next February, when it is understood that Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, will host his G8 counterparts in Iqaluit.
The Conservative government's stance on the Far North has been broadly popular with Canadians, even if they don't necessarily support Mr. Harper.
The Northern strategy has been a key building block in Mr. Harper's attempts to create an enduring Conservative brand. It wasn't coincidence that the party platform at the last election was called: "True North Strong and Free: Stephen Harper's Plan for Canada".
SOURCE : John Ivison, National Post.
