Circumpolar Newsings
Yukon case goes before Supreme Court 
(Chuck Tobin/Whitehorse Star, 10 November 2009)** -- A landmark case about aboriginal rights and title in the Yukon which has drawn significant national attention will be before the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday morning. The case involves an agricultural lease that was given out by the Yukon government for 65 hectares of land north of Carmacks, in the area of a trapline belonging to Johnny Sam, a member of the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation. The first nation and Sam challenged the authorization of the lease. They argued the Yukon government had a duty to consult with the first nation on matters within its traditional territory, but that it failed to fulfill that duty. ... Each party will have one hour and 15 minutes to make their arguments to the justices of the Supreme Court. There are also several intervening parties who will make submissions, but will be limited to 10 minutes each. In general, the federal government is throwing its support behind the position of the Yukon government, as are Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Kwanlin Dun First Nation, the Council of Yukon First Nations and several other aboriginal governing bodies, including the national Assembly of First Nations, are lining up behind the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation. In all likelihood, the court will reserve its decision.
Posted 11 November 2009; 11:56:10 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Canada, Circumpolar News, Indigenous Issues, Laws and legal, November09, Yukon / Canada
Seward heating system may implications for other coastal areas
(Robert Woolsey/KCAW Sitka via APRN, 10 November 2009) -- A clean energy consultant believes a groundbreaking heating system in Seward using seawater may have applications in Sitka and other coastal communities. Anchorage-based engineer Andy Baker has been assisting the Seward Sea Life Center to design and install the seawater system, which uses a heat exchanger in conjunction with a fairly conventional heat pump system to extract BTU’s from the chilly waters of Resurrection Bay. [mp3]
Posted 11 November 2009; 11:47:34 PM. ann-20091110-04.mp3 Permalink
Tagged: Alaska, Alternative Energy / Climate Change Responses, Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, November09
Young people to elect youth minister in Arkhangelsk
(Barents Observer, 11 November 2009) -- Arkhangelsk Oblast is hardly known for its free and fair political elections. Still, the regional administration now intends to let young people in the region themselves elect the next minister of youth affairs. Deputy Governor Yelena Kudryasheva in a press conference this week confirmed that the next minister of youth issues, sport and tourism will be elected by people in the region. The elections will be “as democratic as possible”, Kudryasheva stressed to the reporters. However, the elections will still not be direct and the governor will be able to veto the winner of the vote. As a matter of fact, a number of youth fora all over the region will convene late fall to appoint representatives to a bigger youth congress, which will be where the new minister is elected. People interested in the job are free to register their candidacy by November 16, Pravda Severa reports.
Posted 11 November 2009; 11:45:25 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Sovereignty and Politics, Circumpolar News, November09, Russia
Canada’s Forgotten Arctic Hero launched today
(Laura Jean Grant/The Cape Breton Post, 11 November 2009) -- SYDNEY - The story of a Cape Breton man now recognized as the first Canadian to photograph the high Arctic is the focus of the latest book from Breton Books. Canada’s Forgotten Arctic Hero by Jim Lotz will be launched today from 4-6 p.m. at the McConnell Library in Sydney. It is the story of Cape Bretoner George Rice, the only Canadian and photographer on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition from 1881-1884. The American expedition set out to search for clues of the missing USS Jeannette, and to establish a scientific station on Lady Franklin Bay as part of the U.S. contribution to the first International Polar Year. Breton Books publisher Ronald Caplan said Lotz approached him with the idea for the book. “He knew about the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition in 1881 but he only recently found about George Rice, and he called me because he wanted to write a book about Rice himself. He thought that this was a remarkable man who really served as a kind of icon or hero for young people today. He’s a Cape Bretoner ... and he was the only civilian and only Canadian and he went there to be a photographer,” explained Caplan. “He turned out to become an important leader in the group, a kind of pillar, they felt. He brought good humour but he also brought hard work and was profoundly respected by everyone from privates right up to the commander, really—and yet he is unknown.” ... Canada’s Forgotten Arctic Hero is 208 pages and includes 16 pages of photos and illustrations. It can be ordered through bookstores, directly from Breton Books at 1-800-565-5140, and online at www.capebretonbooks.com.
Posted 11 November 2009; 11:39:17 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Books, Blogs and Publications, Canada, Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, IPY, November09
Old forests in Finnish Lapland preserved
(Barents Observer, 11 November 2009) -- An agreement between a Finnish state-owned forestry company and the environmental organization Greenpeace has led to the preservation of large areas of old forest in Northern Finland. After reaching an agreement with a state-owned forestry company on preservation of old forests in Lapland, Greenpeace Nordic has decided to withdraw from Finnish Lapland and move its target area to Indonesia. According to the website Forest.fi, a longstanding dispute between state-owned forestry company Metsähallitus and Greenpeace concerning old-growth forests in Central, or Forest Lapland was over when an agreement was reached in the end of October. The agreement covers some 44,200 hectares of forest land. Of them, 6,600 hectares will remain available for normal multiple-use forestry. 2,700 hectares remain in restricted forestry use, and 35,000 hectares are excluded from forestry operations. The solution prevents future felling of 1.7 million cubic meters of wood. The final agreement was reached in a steering group which consists of, in addition to Metsähallitus and Greenpeace, the Regional Council of Lapland, Lapland Regional Environment Centre, Finnish Reindeer Owners’ Association, and representatives from the forest industry and the Sámi Parliament.
Posted 11 November 2009; 4:13:30 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Conservation and Wildlife, Environment and Landscape, Finland, Flora and Fauna, Nordic Region, November09
Nunavut seal pelt sales plummet
(CBC News, 11 November 2009) -- Sales of seal pelts from Nunavut have plummeted in the past year and a half, in the wake of the European Union's move this year to ban the trade of seal products. The impact of worldwide publicity surrounding the ban, which EU parliamentarians passed in May, is already being felt in Nunavut, where Inuit sealers have made a living harvesting seals for the fur market. Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. in North Bay, Ont., would usually sell most of the 10,000 to 12,000 seal pelts it receives from Nunavut each year, at an average price ranging from $50 to $70, said Ed Ferguson, a fur technician with the auction house. "Now, in the last year or so, we've sold probably maybe 25 or 30 per cent, and it's at a $25 or $30 number," Ferguson told CBC News. Most of those 2,500 or so pelts have been sold back to Nunavut, he said. Ferguson said most global consumers have already shied away from buying seal pelts as a result of the EU's ban, which is expected to take effect in August 2010 in 27 European countries. The Canadian government is challenging the EU ban before the World Trade Organization. It has maintained that Canada's seal hunt is sustainable, humane and closely monitored, contrary to claims put forward by animal-rights activists.
Posted 11 November 2009; 11:17:41 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Canada, Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, North America, November09, Nunavut / Canada
Prince Charles takes home Inuit Ranger sweaters for sons
(AFP, 10 November 2009) -- OTTAWA - Canada's prime minister on Tuesday gave Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, two red sweaters and caps worn by Inuit Rangers to take home to his sons as souvenirs of his visit. "Your Highness, as you know we're very proud of our Rangers and our Rangers program," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, flanked by four Rangers in the drawing room of the governor general's mansion. They are "a great group of people who patrol our vast Arctic territory," he said, adding the sweaters and caps symbolized Princes William and Harry's honorary membership in the Arctic guard. "I hope they fit," quipped Prince Charles. "One-size fits all," interjected Harper's wife Laureen. The prince and his wife Camilla arrived in Canada on November 2 for a 10-day visit—his 15th tour of this former British colony and her first look into her family's roots. So far during their 10-day trip, they have visited Canada's oldest English settlement in Cupids, Newfoundland, which celebrates its 400th anniversary next year, and the home of famed Arctic explorer Captain Robert Bartlett in Brigus. They also toured Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Village and Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario, built in 1835 for Camilla's great-great-great-grandfather and former prime minister of the united Province of Canada, Sir Alan MacNab. On Tuesday, the couple met with Governor General Michaelle Jean, as well as Canada's opposition leader Michael Ignatieff and Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who gave them an Inuit sculpture and a collection of Quebec films on DVD.
Posted 11 November 2009; 10:28:35 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Canada, Circumpolar News, Cultural Matters, November09, Tourism / Perspectives
Norwegian-Russian cooperation within higher education
(BarentsObserver, 10 November 2009) -- Bodø University College in Nordland, Norway, and the Pomor State University in Arkhangelsk, Russia, are expanding their cooperation through combined teaching on Bachelor’s level. The Centre for Northern Studies at The Faculty of Social Science at Bodø University College this autumn extends its cooperation with The Pomor State University by offering the students to take 90 study points as electives in language and culture specialist programs in Russia. So far, 20 students have chosen this study profile, the college’s web pages read. Bodø University College and the Pomor State University have been cooperating for 12 years. The cooperation started with projects in the field of social work and has since developed into today's Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies. A new Master in Arctic Social Work is now being developed together with Director Marina Kalinina at the Norwegian-Russian Centre at The Pomor State University. As BarentsObserver reported, the Pomor State University will be included in the new Northern (Arctic) Federal University, which is being established in Arkhangelsk. It is planned to be Russia’s center for education and research on the Arctic. "With extended cooperation and well-established Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies we are well positioned to take part in this development," says Head of the Centre for Northern Studies at The Faculty of Social Science at Bodø University College Bjørn Sagdal.
Posted 11 November 2009; 1:07:06 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Barents Euro-Arctic Region, Circumpolar cooperation, Circumpolar News, Communities, Education and Civil Society, November09, UArctic News
email to: agra...@yukoncollege.yk.ca
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