Arctic Sovereignty: Part Five
Published on 16 May 2014 Blog by Senator Charlie WattSenator Charlie Watt
In December 2013, Canada made its submission to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Canada failed to include any reference to Inuit rights to the Arctic.
As countries race for control of the seas located closest to their borders, they have forgotten that northern seas are populated by northern people. Inuit live in the Arctic – on the ice, on the land and on the water. We have always lived here and we have no plans of leaving.
The growing interest of the international community in our territory is fueled by the wealth of natural resources which lay beneath the Arctic ice and water. In this rush to claim the Arctic, the rights of the people who live there are ignored.
As Canadian Inuit we must stand together and we must support each other across the circumpolar world. Our rights to the northern territory exist in the areas of our traditional land use and occupancy; in some places this is well beyond the 200 mile limit, and beyond the limits claimed by the Canadian government at the United Nations.
As the only Inuk Senator in Canada, I am posting this report online so you can read the arguments and I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
Nakurmiik,
Senator Charlie Watt
Please click here to read this report // Inuktitut version
Click here to read Senator Watt’s first blog about Arctic Sovereignty
