Inuit to protect Arctic sovereignty?

I, for one, am all for this idea, and hope that our Party moves quickly on it.

Leader says the Inuit key to Arctic sovereignty
Updated Sun. Aug. 5 2007 12:49 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

An Inuit leader says the federal government needs to actively engage the people of the Canadian North on the issue of Arctic sovereignty in order to dispel Russian claims to the area.

Mary Simon, president of national organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told CTV's Question Period that her people are ready to get involved in surveillennce of the region.

"We are Canadians, we are full taxpayers, we hold Canadian passports and are permanently Canadian residents," Simon said of the Inuit people.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is set to visit the North next week where he is expected to discuss sovereignty and security with northern leaders.

Earlier this week, a Russian atomic icebreaker ploughed a route to the North Pole through a sheet of multi-year ice, paving the path for the Akademik Fedorov research ship to follow.

In a symbolic gesture, a Russian flag was dropped onto the seabed, in an attempt to bolster claims to about 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic shelf.