Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Canada not ready for Arctic 'great melt,' report says

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper's annual summer visits to the Arctic and his government's smattering of northern policy initiatives are "admirable as far as they go," Canadian planning for the vast region in the midst of a "great melt" - one that places the Arctic "at the cusp of tremendous economic development" - is still plainly "inadequate," according to a new report by a Canadian team of foreign policy and marine transportation experts.

The report, issued by the Waterloo, Ont.-based Centre for International Governance Innovation, highlights the "urgent need" for a more coherent approach to planning the Arctic's future and greater co-operation with the U.S. and corporate players in preparing for the coming development boom - including oil-and-gas development, tourism and trans-Arctic shipping.

The independent think-tank's study was co-authored by CIGI research fellow and Arctic policy analyst James Manicom, University of Manitoba security and defence specialist Andrea Charron and Carleton University trade and transportation expert John Higginbotham, a former diplomat and top federal adviser on the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative.

"Intense activities in commercial, investment, diplomatic, legal, scientific and academic sectors abound in the new Arctic, but the region's long-term significance is only gradually penetrating North American public consciousness," states the CIGI policy paper, echoing previous analyses that Canadians - and Americans even more so - are not grasping the significance of the climatic and economic changes unfolding in the Far North.

The push for increased attention on Arctic challenges comes at a time when Canada is poised to take on a two-year leadership term at the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2013-14.

Next year also represents the UN deadline for Canada to submit a bid for what's expected to amount to millions of square kilometres of new undersea territory on the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean floors, widely viewed as a potential offshore resource bonanza.

The report recommended that Canada promptly reopen its recently shuttered trade office in Anchorage, Alaska as a "small but useful step" to encourage a "more, rather than less, sophisticated binational dialogue" between Canada and the U.S. on Arctic development issues.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author:  Randy Boswell

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