Giving a Hand or Giving a Handout?

Cambridge Bay provides the perfect setting for a geopolitical debate but more on that later. The community is probably the most inhabited in the northern Arctic. Approximately, there are some 2000 residents with maybe 80% being loosely indigenous. The port is the largest stopover point for Arctic exploration and was the control centre when the DEW line was established in the 1950’s during the Cold War. The Distance Early Warning system was setup across the north by Canadians in conjunction with the Americans, over the fear of an air attack by the Soviet Union. We met Jeannie, a sailor who had started from Greenland in early August, sailing with three dutchmen on their way to southern Alaska. They were producing a film with underwater ocean sounds and were hoping to complete their journey by the end of September. Sounds like an award winning film to me :) There is a Government of Canada research centre here which is used by international arctic researchers, as well as a relatively modern airport. We noticed a Canadian Forces Hercules taking off and we made the assumption that our son Brad who is a Herc pilot in the CF probably had flown in here at some point. Also we talked to a Canadian Naval officer who was here aboard the navy icebreakeooker HMCS Margaret Brooke, out of Halifax and on patrol of the Canadian Arctic. In addition to a Canada Post office and Service Canada Centre, there is a cultural centre, medical centre and social service centre, all compliments and funded by the Government of Canada. Our guide tells us that without government support there would be no reason for this community to exist. Which begs the question, is it necessary to be pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this community? To me it appears to be a self-perpetuating problem of the dog chasing its tail. Some of the community benefit by getting good paying government jobs and offshoots from the government contracts that are handed out, but there is still high unemployment and welfare. Those who are capable, don’t want a regular job for $15 to $20 an hour. They would rather wait for a good paying government job. The rationale is simple. In order to keep sovereignty in the north there must be a physical presence, both domestically and militarily. So rather than abandoning the community, the decision has been made to flush the area with cash, enough to entice people to stay, in order to sustain our presence. Outside powers such as the Russians and Chinese are already claiming that they too have a right to the resources on unclaimed land. Maybe it is the community who is giving a hand to the people of Canada rather than the government giving a handout to the indigenous peoples? Either way you look at it, it would make for good debate.