Northern Exposure: Peoples, Powers and Prospects in Canada's North

Canada’s North has long held a special place in the country’s narrative, and increasingly now it is an important focal point of public policy. While climate change is already having wide-reaching effects on the northern environment, it is also expected to expand shipping and passage in Canadian Arctic waters. This prospect has generated renewed international interest in the region’s vast reserves of oil, gas and mineral and has reignited concerns about Canadian sovereignty in the region. These external forces will have profound consequences – for Canada’s northern communities and residents, who will be faced with critical challenges and unprecedented opportunities, and for Canada as a whole.

The result of a two year, multidisciplinary research program, Northern Exposure: Peoples, Powers and Prospects in Canada’s North – the fourth in The Art of the State series – explores some of these critical issues, with a particular emphasis on the views and perspectives of northerners. The wide-ranging collection examines the implication of the dramatic changes and innovations in territorial and Aboriginal governance that have occurred over the past three decades, as well as new social and economic policy avenues to strengthen the peoples, powers and prospects of Canada’s North.