Introduction

It’s where we should be building up capabilities against Russia’s hypersonic missiles and Chinese spy aircraft coming over the North Pole. But news the Liberal government is closing the Canadian International Arctic Centre is the latest indication Ottawa doesn’t get the importance of the North. After the Harper government made the Arctic a bigger priority, the last eight years have revealed Ottawa’s lack of ambition and enthusiasm for the region, says Heather Exner-Pirot, one of Canada’s most prominent authorities on the Arctic. As Exner-Pirot discusses with host Brian Lilley, we’ve left behind a northern vacuum — and other countries are filling it. (Recorded July 6, 2023)

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