Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’

31
Mar

Inuit hope Clinton’s blast at Canada leads to more inclusiveness

   Posted by: admin    in aboriginal, climate change, environment, Inuit


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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chelsea, Quebec on Monday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chelsea, Quebec on Monday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s criticism of Canada for not including indigenous people in an Arctic conference earlier this week has kicked up a firestorm. (See previous post, here.)

But the people at the center of the controversy are glad Clinton spoke up, according to Agence France-Presse.

“I’m grateful for her comments and I hope it encourages Canada to be more inclusive, or at the very least to consider inviting northern inhabitants at meetings such as this,” Duane Smith, head of the Canadian branch of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), tells the news agency, here.

Smith says his group, which lobbies on behalf of northern peoples, had asked to be included in the Arctic Coastal conference, but was turned down.

Clinton criticized that exclusion, as well as that of Iceland, Sweden and Finland, whose interests in the region also are legitimate, she said.

Canada is newly protective of the Arctic, because climate change is opening up new shipping lanes that could provide better access to huge mineral and fuel reserves. Other northern countries also lay claim to those.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon has said this week’s meeting “was not made to replace or undermine the Arctic Council,” which comprises northern nations and indigenous groups, meets biannually, according to AFP.

Gwen Florio

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30
Mar

Clinton lobs ‘bombshell’ at Canada – Where are all the indigenous people? – during Arctic forum

   Posted by: admin    in climate change, First Nations, Indigenous people, Inuit



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From left to right, Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Store, Russsia's Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, USA's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Denmark's Minister for Justice Lars Barfoed take part in a photo during the Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, Monday, March 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press)

From left to right, Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Store, Russsia's Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, USA's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Denmark's Minister for Justice Lars Barfoed take part in a photo during the Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, Monday, March 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press)

Notice anything about the photo to the right? It’s of foreign ministers invited to a Canadian forum on the Arctic, designed to further cooperation in the region.

Yep, there’s not an indigenous person in the lot.

And U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is mad about that. Not a single representative from the region’s indigenous groups was invited to yesterday’s Arctic Coastal forum, she says, according to this story by Rob Gillies of the Associated Press. Clinton didn’t hold back.

In remarks termed by the Canadian press as a “bombshell,” Clinton said that “Significant international discussions on Arctic issues should include those who have legitimate interests in the region. And I hope the Arctic will always showcase our ability to work together, not create new divisions.”

As Gillies writes:

    In what appeared to be a further expression of her displeasure, Clinton did not attend what was planned as a group news conference following the meeting. Instead, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon ended up doing the news conference by himself.

    Although the goal of the gathering was to improve Arctic cooperation, just the U.S., Canada, Russia, Denmark and Norway were invited.

    Sweden, Finland, Iceland and indigenous groups are a part of the broader Arctic Council group that meets regularly, but were not invited to the Canadian forum.

A number of countries are vying for control of the Arctic and its rich mineral and petroleum resources – newly accessible as melting ice, due to climate change, creates new shipping routes. Canada says that if a reliable Northwest Passage opens, it belongs to Canada. But the Unites States and others say those would be international waters.


Gwen Florio

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