Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Layton leads delegation to the Canadian Arctic - Wednesday August 29, 2007
Meetings with Premiers, Mayors and community leaders planned
OTTAWA – NDP Leader Jack Layton departs this morning for a four-day tour to meet ordinary Canadians in the Arctic. An NDP delegation will travel to five arctic communities, meeting with political and community leaders, participating in traditional feasts and seeing first hand the challenges and opportunities facing the North.
“The Prime Minister’s focus on military solutions for Arctic sovereignty is too narrow” said Layton. “The NDP knows that to protect our northern sovereignty means addressing social, economic, and environmental concerns,” said Layton. “The growing prosperity gap, being felt by average individuals and by the communities in which they live needs to be addressed once and for all.”
Also on Layton’s agenda is climate change. “We can’t proclaim sovereignty over our Arctic waters if those same waters are not protected from climate change,” said Layton.
The NDP leader will be joined by NDP MPs’ Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic) and Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) as well as academic and author Dr. Michael Byers. Dr. Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in global politics and international law at the University of British Columbia. He is a well-known expert in Canadian sovereignty and author of the recently released book “Intent for a Nation: What is Canada for?”
Layton will be meeting with Premier Paul Okalik of Nunavut and Premier Handley of the Northwest Territories.
# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 2:58 PM 
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