To mark the Arctic Council’s 30th anniversary, we conducted a series of interviews with the people who helped build the Arctic Council, shape its work and carry it through some of its most challenging moments.
In this interview, we sat down with The Right Honorable Mary Simon, the former Governor General of Canada. She was the lead negotiator in the creation of the Arctic Council, and worked hard to ensure that Indigenous Peoples had a seat at the table.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: As someone coming from the Arctic region in Canada, I had done a lot of work with non-governmental organizations like the Inuit Circumpolar Council. We really created a dialog amongst Inuit nation, across Canada, Greenland and Alaska.
When the Prime Minister decided to appoint me as Canadian Circumpolar Ambassador, he gave me the responsibility of creating this Arctic Council.
My hopes were that the engagement that we had had amongst Indigenous groups, amongst the Inuit as well as other Indigenous Peoples like the Sámi, that those agendas would be taken up by state governments.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: The Arctic Council continues to be extremely important. When we first started discussing it amongst the eight Arctic nations, we felt that it would be an organization that would foresee the future of what was happening in the Arctic. So the relevancy of the Arctic Council has not diminished. It has changed, there's no doubt about that.
When we first created the Arctic Council back in 1996, I felt that we had to start from a place of understanding. Especially when we were able to get the Indigenous organizations as part of the Arctic Council as Permanent Participants. It was a very important element of the Council to have the Indigenous representatives participating at the table along with the countries and the Ministers.
From then on, it has evolved over the years. [At first] we didn't agree on the idea that the Arctic Council could sign treaties amongst States, but that has since happened. And the the relevancy of the initial work on climate issues and environmental degradation that was done through the Arctic Environment Protection Strategy, which was there just before the creation of the Arctic Council – those are all still extremely relevant issues today. The Arctic Council has documented these issues over many periods, including scientists that were recognized internationally as well as the knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples. So the relevancy is very, very important.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: One of the things that was critical in the development of the Arctic Council was to find a way to address environmental issues as well as sustainable development. And finding that balance between protection and sustainability of resources that we depend on. The work that the Arctic Council has done over the years has brought that to the forefront.
The role of Indigenous Peoples has become more relevant and important in terms of decision making. And today, especially in the climate that we are involved in amongst the Arctic States, it's currency is really critical. The work that the Arctic Council has done transcends all those years that that have passed since 1996. Climate change is still happening, and the Arctic States are very involved in the international discussions on how to combat climate change.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: For me personally, it's a combination of work that I did for many years. I started at the non-governmental organizational level for the Inuit Circumpolar Council. That work was very important because it allowed the Inuit of Alaska, Greenland and Canada, and eventually the Inuit of Russia, to discuss common concerns across the Arctic. So it brought to the forefront what the issues were at the people’s level. When the Arctic Council was created, that agenda that we had evolved as Inuit became part of the discussion at the state level. I think it has encouraged Arctic States to include the perspective of Indigenous Peoples.
Then, after our initial negotiations in 1996, I was appointed by Prime Minister Chrétien as the Canadian Circumpolar Ambassador, and I was a lead on the discussions to create the Arctic Council. So, in 1996, when I saw all the ministers sitting around the table and the Indigenous Peoples sitting at the same table as Permanent Participants, and I was sitting beside our Minister who was chairing the meeting. It just brought home how important the Arctic Council was.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: I would like to see the Arctic Council back the way it was. The Ministerial meetings that took place every two years in different countries highlighted the work that the Arctic Council was doing. The States would always sign a declaration during Ministerial meetings, and that gave us a better idea of what the agenda would be for the next two years. To me, that is missing right now. I'm not saying that the work that is being done by the Working Groups isn't important. It's still very important, and it needs to continue. But we're missing that key component at the moment. So I'm hoping that it'll come back to where it was for the future.
The world is changing quite rapidly, so it's hard to envisage what the future might look like. But nevertheless, I think it's one of the very critical organizations for the Arctic region.
The Right Honorable Mary Simon: There's many, but I think it's the one I mentioned a few minutes ago. We had a short timeframe to create the Arctic Council, and finally, after two years, having that Ministerial meeting in 1996 and having negotiated the role of the Permanent Participants, which was quite challenging. It was one of the more difficult issues that we had to deal with during the negotiations for the creation of the Council. To have had that accepted by the Arctic States was a very important moment in terms of how we have, finally, reached a point where Indigenous Peoples can be equal partners. It's a consensus organization, so it’s very important to be there as a member, even if you're not voting. I find that in international meetings, a lot of discussions take place outside of the meeting room. And to me, that's a very important part of international cooperation. And the Permanent Participants have that.
The other moments of joy was when I went to all the Arctic States as a representative for Canada and got to know the different cultures in the Arctic States. I learned a lot by being involved in the Arctic Council. So I'm very happy about that. And I feel privileged to have done that.