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Barry Penner, former B.C. Minister of Environment, and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski following the senator's address to the roundtable
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The Pacific NorthWest Economic region hosted a U.S. - Canada Arctic Roundtable at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on March 7, 2013. For the second year in a row, the PNWER Arctic Caucus has hosted a remarkable, informative session attended by a diverse array of stakeholders, experts, and policy makers. This year's roundtable discussion was an opportunity for the Caucus to receive an update on U.S. and Canadian federal priorities in the Arctic, and to share regional priorities with federal authorities.
PNWER's Arctic Caucus continues to look for solutions to the shared challenges of its three jurisdictions, specifically for the people who live in the North. This meeting was another opportunity to achieve the Caucus goal of making Arctic issues more visible with both federal governments, and throughout PNWER.
The Roundtable included Alaska's U.S. Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. They spoke about the role of the U.S. Federal Government in the Arctic. Both agreed that practices in Alaska should help drive the U.S. Federal policy. They expressed strong support for Alaska's role in the Arctic and an appreciation for the role that the PNWER Arctic Caucus is playing in increasing awareness of these northern issues.
Senator Begich highlighted recent legislation to develop an Arctic port in Alaska, as well as resolving offshore revenue-sharing with the state and its communities.
Senator Murkowski emphasized the need for infrastructure, including icebreakers and a deep-draft port. Murkowski, as well as Begich, argued for a U.S. Ambassador to the Arctic who could represent Arctic issues internationally. They also emphasized that Caucus members, individually and collectively, should act as ambassadors to their fellow citizens. The capacity to respond to an emergency in the midst of an increasingly-busy Bering Strait was also a strong priority for the two senators.
 | | Senator Mark Begich addresses the roundtable. |
Insights from the Alaska Legislature's Senator Lesil McGuire and Representative Bob Herron highlighted the progress being made in Alaska. Senator McGuire and Representative Herron co-chair the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission, and are looking forward to increasing the awareness of these issues in the State and Federal Government by developing an Arctic Policy for Alaska.
Sheila Riordon, Minister of Political Affairs from the Canadian Embassy, spoke on behalf of the Canadian Federal Government, commenting on how excited she was to see PNWER tackling these issues with the Arctic Caucus. Minister Riordon laid out the major themes that Canada will prioritize in its upcoming Chairship of the 8 Nation Arctic Council. She highlighted a "people-first" perspective that emphasizes the human dimension of people living in the Arctic.
The minister referred to the "tremendous resource wealth" that the Arctic represents for Canada, and development in the region, what she called, the "economic growth engine." She defined development as not limited to extraction, but including value-added prospects. Evan Bloom, Director of the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, U.S. State Department, gave an informative overview of the U.S. direction on the Arctic. The U.S. hopes to build on work done by Canada during the next two years, and is actively communicating with its northern neighbor as the chairs rotate.
 | | Roundtable participants engaging with PNWER's federal partners. |
The roundtable also featured a presentation from Dr. John Farrell, Executive Director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC). Dr. Farrell closed the session with a review of the Commission's 2013-14 goals and objectives. They included:
- Environmental change
- Arctic human health
- Civil infrastructure
- Natural resource assessment and earth science
- Indigenous languages, identities, cultures
It is worth noting that these present a lot of opportunity for the PNWER Arctic Caucus and for northern researchers. Additionally, it was noted that other opportunities might also include rural water and sanitation, oil spill preparedness, and mapping activities.
Proceedings from the Washington, DC meeting will soon be available on the PNWER Arctic Caucus website at
http://www.pnwer.org/arcticcaucus/Home.aspx
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