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The Territorial North
- largest region (39%)
- resource frontier
- import all manufactured goods from the South
- remoteness, resources, and Aboriginal presence
- .3 of population .5 GDP
- unemployment and underemployment
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GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country's economy. It represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period; you can think of it as the size of the economy.
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Historical Geography of the North
- non-Ab settlement is relatively recent
- region was a forgotten frontier after whaling and fur trade
- strategically significant during the Cold War, e.g. DEW line
- Aboriginal land claims past and future effect development
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Native Production in the North
- with time, assimilated into industrial-capitalist system
- recent identity reclaiming through education, cultural pride, and naming places
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Northern Climate
- four physiographic regions and two climate zones
- fragile ecosystems that take time to recover from human activity
- cold, especially permafrost, challenges development
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Effects of Global Warming in the North
- permafrost limit and tree line will move North
- possible international access through Arctic waters and Hudson’s Bay
- debate over sovereignty of Hans Island with Denmark
- Each Harbour Inuvialuit hunting season significantly reduced already by a month
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Arctic Land Rush
- Canada, USA, Russia, Norway, and Denmark (Greenland)
- Russia wants to claim the North Pole and Lomonoslav Ridge for oil and gas
- 200 nautical mile limit from outlying islands sets previous agreement for EEZ
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Polar Hawks
- pilotless polar drone
- 10km up to monitor shipping, oil spills, measure ice, and track wildlife
- powered to fly entire missions (30h) without ground control
- only one station needed to maintain a small squad of 3 for constant surveillance
- cost unknown, set 1.6 billion
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Beaufort Boundary Dispute
- between Can and USA over the arctic waters off of the Yukon and Alaskan coast
- oil and gas in this area
- the debate has been going on for decades
- 2016 US proposal drill for oil and gas
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Megaproject
large scale construction projects, often related to resource extraction, that exceed $1 billion and take more than two years to complete
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The Giant Mine
- built without consent of Dene Aboriginal people on their hunting and harvesting grounds
- Yellowknife
- companies made 1.1 billion, and government collected 572 million in taxes
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Clean Up for The Giant Mine
- toxic arsenic trioxide (by product of extracting gold) spread and contaminated the land around the mine in 1949
- 237 thou tones are currently buried, and the plan is to keep it frozen forever?
- after the company abandoned the mine, Aboriginal affairs and Northern Development Canada cleaned up the site, approx $903 million
- arsenic trioxide remains toxic to life forever
- environmental assessment plan: independent oversight body, perpetual care plan, research into a permanent solution, and review every 100y
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Deh Cho Bridge
- built in 2012, bridges the Mackenzie river
- replaces ferry service
- first year-round road link from NWT to the country
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Whitehorse
capital of Yukon
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Yellowknife
capital of NWT
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Iqaluit
capital of Nunavut
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Urban Geography of the North
- major cities are the capitals, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit
- underemployment is less of a problem here because of government jobs
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Northern Defense
- Alert (very tippy top of the North) is still a military base from the Cold War
- Resolute (still in the arctic islands area) will become a naval base to secure Canada’s Arctic sovereignty
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Inuit Regions
- four regions, only Nunavut has stand alone political rights
- regions in northern NWT, QU, and NL have won some autonomy
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Future of the North
- continue to suffer boom-and-bust economic cycles without a more diverse economy
- political and economic changes urge for improvements to social conditions
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Economic Sectors in the North
- primary and tertiary mainly
- very little secondary (manufacturing) is done, except for ore extraction
- most people (83%) work in the service industry
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Territorial Formula Financing
- equalization payments for the North
- necessary, but still not enough to close the gap between north and south
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Territorial Governing
- dependent on payments from Federal government
- territorial formula financing goes to infrastructure development and work-force education
- high rate of employment because more effort is needed to get people basic services and each citizen requires more money than provincial residents
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Population in the North
- highest concentration of Aboriginal peoples
- highest natural growth rate due to high birth rate and low death rate
- migrant workers from southern Can come and leave with job opportunities
- more Aboriginal people are moving south to take advantage of economic and social conditions
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South Nahanni National Park
- one of the world’s great rivers
- southwester NWT
- passes hot springs, gigantic waterfall, and cut through a canyon
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Non-Renewable Resources in the North
- far more value in non-renewable resources than renewable in this region
- boom-and-bust cycles of economy, ie. not stable
- subject to world prices and economy
- megaprojects generate money for corporations and the south (because the market in the north is small), but do little to help the local economy beyond the construction phase
- most resources are concentrated in NWT
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Northern Wells Oil Field
- discovered in 1920
- before the pipeline was built the field served the local community and the military during WWII
- Esso built a pipeline in 1985 and increased production x10
- Dene aboriginals and environmental committee did not believe that the project was environmentally and socially responsible, but it went forwards anyways
- production is falling, but increased gas prices offset that for Esso
- the project is considered successful
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Ekati Diamond Mine
- Yukon
- first surface and underground diamond mine
- operates continuously, 24h a day, every day of the year
- 2% of world’s diamonds and 6% of world value
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NWT Diamonds
- third largest producer of diamonds in the world
- lakes had to be drained to access diamonds deposits
- employ 800 workers, pickup for air-commuting in Yellowknife, so money stays in the territory
- what will happen after the diamonds are gone in the next decade?
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Northern Aboriginal Land Claims
- surrender claim to all land in exchange for a title to a smaller parcel of land, money, a larger area for hunting and fishing
- other issues: self-government, language and cultural preservation, wildlife resource management
- Inuvialuit (northern NWT and Yukon) were the first claim in 1984
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Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway
- highway to connect the two cities
- projected to finish 2017-18
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