Lecture 11: Territorial North Flashcards
Where do the majority of people in the Territorial North Live?
Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Iqaluit
What are the indigenous population percentages in Nunavut, NWT, and Yukon?
85%, 50%, 22.8%
What are reasons for the high indigenous populations in the Territorial north? (3 reasons)
- They tend not to leave
- High rates of natural increase
- Very few southern Canadians choose to go north
How is the population concentration in Territorial north?
Most live in the capitals (77% for Whitehorse)
What is population growth like in territorial north?
Very fast
How does in-migration impact TN population
Economic expansion creates jobs, and draws people in, however when the economy contracts, these same people leave
True or False: More and more indigenous people are leaving the north for jobs and education
True: but not increasing at a fast rate
How much attention did the government pay to the TN before WW2?
Not very much attention, a laissez fair approach
Why did the TN become a strategic region?
The Canadian government built military bases, highways landing fields, radar stations in WW2 → was also a buffer zone between USA and SU until 1991
What did PM John Diefenbaker’s “Northern Vision” in the late 50s Roads to Resources aim to do?
Build highways and encourage resource development in TN
What makes building highways in the TN so expenesive
Permafrost and distance between places
Which province is not connected to the national highway system?
Nunavut
What are winter roads?
Temporary ice roads over muskeg, lakes, and rivers
What are the best ways to ship low-grade ore?
- Ship 2. Railway
What was a major flaw in the Northern Vision?
Resource towns were non-sustainable as they had no economic prowess once the mines closed
How did companies avoid the problems associated with non-sustainable towns apart in the Northern Vision?
Air commuting (flying in workers for a period of time)
Why was air commuting bad for the territorial north?
- workers would earn money and spend it at home - stimulating the provincial economies and not territorial ones
- workers would pay personal income tax to the province and not the territory
Why was air commuting good for Indigenous peoples?
Provided access to work while allowing them to reside in their communities
How does arctic transportation take advantage of nature?
In late summer when ice melts along the western arctic, a narrow stretch of water opens between the shore and the polar pack ice allowing small ships to bring supplies along the coast of the Beaufort sea
How do ships get through the arctic pack (ice) in winter?
In the winter, ice ranging from 1m (one year) to 5m (older) requires ice breakersto allow voyages
Why were arctic cruise goers surprised?
Lack of ice
How do residents of small arctic communities benefit from the arctic cruise tourists?
The wealthy visitors
What was a major issue with whalers, fur traders, and missionaries coming to arctic?
They brought diseases that the Inuit had little immunity such as measles, small pox, and tuberculosis
What happened to the Saldermiut and Mackenzie Delta Inuit?
They were exposed to European diseases, the Saldermiut were completely wiped out and the Mackenzie Delat Inuit were down to 100
Who had the highest flu mortality rates in the world?
Inuit
Wha
What was the goal of Sir John Franklin’s british naval expedition?
To search for the elusive Northwest Passage, they never returned, igniting one of the world’s greatest rescue operations
What were the conclusions of the Sir John Franklin’s Naval Expedition’s rescue missions? (3 conclusions)
- Evidents of the loss of the ships, and the deaths of the crews
- One rescue ship (Robert McClure) almost completed it
- Missions resulted in greater knowledge and mapping of the numerous islands and various routes to the north and west of Baffin Island in the Arctic Ocean
What is a possible cause for the tragedy of Sir John Franklin’s expedition?
Led poisioning from the tin cans in the ships
What was the desperate decision that survivors of Franklin’s expedition made?
March south to the Back River and to follow it down to a Hudson’ Bay Company fur-trading outpost → nobody made it
What is the difference between a province and a territory?
Provinces have powers that cannot be interfered with by federal government
Territories have delagated powers but remain under supervision of federal government
Territories do not have control/ownership of their natural resources and heavily depend on federal government for trasnfer payments
What are the 4 physiographic regions extending over the territorial north?
Canadian Shield, Interior Plains, Cordillera, and Arctic Archipelago
Why in southern regions of TN can temperatures reach 20 degrees?
Far from ocean, and sun is out for longer
Why is most of the Territorial North considered a desert?
Less than 250mm of precipitation annually
What is the significance of the fact that most of the TN region is north of Arctic circle?
Any location will experience at least one day per year without sun and one day per year without night
Explain the Sea Ice Albedo Feedback Cycle
- Ice Retreat (ice melts with warmer temperatures)
- Local Warming (expoded surface waters absorb more sunlight)
- Feedback (enhanced local warming causes further ice melt and retreat)
What are the consequences of the Feedback Cycle? (2 consequences)
- Summers will be Ice Free in Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay by 2050
- Polar bear and caribou populations will be greatly reduced
What was most of the area of the Territorial North formally called?
Rupert’s Land
What did the TN serve as post WW2?
A buffer zone between Soviet and North America
What was built in the 1950s in the TN?
RADAR stations along the 70degree line of latitude to detect soviet bombers
Why is the TN prone to sharp fluctuations in price and demand?
Their economy is based on non-renewable resources
What type of business cycles is the TN prone to?
Boom-bust
Who was Frobisher’s bay named after?
Explorer (1576) Martin Frobisher who reached Baffin Island while searching for Asia
What were explorers looking for after Frobisher’s expedition?
The Northwest Passage to go from the atlantic to asia
What are three reasons for Canada to aquire territory in the Arctic?
- Pressure that Russia will stake claim
- Lots of oil
- Climate change may turn this into a commercial shipping route
How much claim does each country bordering the Arctic Ocean get?
200 nautical miles (some overlaps still need to be resolved
Who has ownership of the Arctic Archipelago islands under international community? Who believes its an international shipping route?
Canada - USA
What is the Arcitc Cooperation Agreement?
The US must always notify Canada before sending ships through the northwest passage. Canada must always allow consent - (on exam)
What is Canada’s concern with ships passing through the Northwest passage?
Oil spills
What is the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act? When?
1985 - Gives Canada the right to control shipping within its 200 nautical mile economic control area
What is the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea? When?
Coastal countries have the righ to control shipping within 12 nautical miiles 2003
Who are the two historic Indigenous Peoples who have inhabited the TN?
Inuit and Dene
Where are most Inuit settlements? What do they eat?
Nunavut - seals, walrus, warwhals, fish
Where do Dene primarily live? What did they historically eat?
NWT - caribou
Describe the relationship between the Inuit peoples and the early 1800s whalers?
Inuit would provide meat for the whalers in return for knives and rifles
What impact did European demand for Arctic Fox pelt have on the TN?
Inuit were heavily involved in the fur trade and by the 50s it dominated their economy → however it also brought them many diseases
Why did the federal government relocate many Inuit into small settlements and dramtically shift their semi-nomadic lifestyle?
- It was seen as necessary to prevent them from living off the hardships of the land
- Concentrating people in settlements allowed the federal government to provide them with services efficiently
What were the positive and negative impacts of Inuit relocation? (3 each)
Positive:
- food security
- access to medical services
- education
Negative:
- cultural devaluation
- reduction of country food diet
- social issues related to poverty and unemployment
What is the main source of income for Inuit settlements?
Government assistance
Who has the highest suicide and alcoholism rates in Canada?
Inuit
What is a large positive outcome of inuit settlement life?
The emergence of educated Indigenous leaders who help lead negotiations for land claim agreements across Canada
When was Nunavut established?
1999
What does Nunavut mean? What language?
Inuktitut - Our land
What are the offical languages of Nunavut?
English, French, Inuktitiut
What are the three biggest attatchements in Inuit culture?
- Land
- Country food
- ethic of sharing
What is country food?
Food that is obtained directly from the land or water by means of hunting or fishing
What EU import ban hurt the Inuit economy?
The ban of seal pelts (inhumane killing)
What are the two major economic components of TN?
- Extraction of natural resources
- Transfer payments
What is Teritorial Formula Financing?
Transfer payments from the federal government
What are the two main natural resource elements of the economy in the TN?
Energy and mining (diamonds, zinc, copper, iron ore)
What is a winter road?
Temporary transportation route on a frozen river or lake
What is a big thing that mining companies lobby for in the TN?
Federal government to build roads to their sites
What is a megaproject?
Resource development projects that are controlled by large, multinational corporations
What is a problem associated with Megaprojects
They are super expensive and take years to build, but since they are for non renewable resources they have limited lifespans
Why are megaprojects not necessarily benficial to TN? (4 reasons)
- contruction equipment and supplies are manufactured outside the region
- negative impact on landscape
- many workers live in provinces and spend their wages there
- workers pay income tax to their home province instead of territorial government
Who opposes the potential 1220km Mackenzie Pipeline?
Indigenous Peoples in the area
What is causing maintenance challenges for the Norman Wells Oil Field pipeline?
Permafrost melt causing ground subsidence (sinking of ground surface)
What makes Canada the 3rd largest diamond producer in the world?
The 3 mines in NWT
What is the work schedule for workers in the NWT diamond mines?
14 days on, 14 days off commuting by plane from Yellowknife
Why is the backbone of the mining industry in TN not looking promising?
2 of the 3 diamond mines will be exhausted by 2030
What line of latitude are are territories and provinces seperated by?
60th parallel
