Ottawa’s northern rep Simon proposes indigenous protected areas’ for Arctic
Arctic environments should be conserved through a network of indigenous protected areas that would give Inuit more control over their land, says an interim report from a high-profile northerner.
“It’s the connection between creating healthy communities, reconciliation, about many different things,” said Mary Simon, who is advising Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett on the North.
“It’s about people calling a place their home.”
Simon, a diplomat, journalist and longtime Inuit leader, was appointed special representative to Bennett last summer after a joint statement on Arctic policy by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former U.S. president Barack Obama.