Stephen Harper is not the first Canadian prime minister to look north and see the future, nor will he likely be the last. But northerners could be forgiven if they are skeptical about the latest love cry from the south. The political spotlight from southern Canada has seldom brought good things.
The history of Canada's Far North is littered with the wreckage of hollow promises, neglect, bad ideas, political posturing and old-fashioned colonialism. Some of Harper's northern forays, a growing list of unfulfilled promises suggests, have a familiar hollow ring.
If the North's "time has come," as Harper said this week during his seventh annual trip to the territories, then some of the political spotlight must focus on its people - many of whom have the worst health outcomes, living standards and life expectancies in the country - and not just what is buried under northern rocks and tundra.
Harper deserves some credit for making Canada's North a priority with trips there for each of the summers since he became prime minister. The attention is not a bad thing. But whether all that attention amounts to benefits for northerners remains an open question. As does how solid the federal government's commitment to the North really is, in light of reports that funding for projects announced on previous northern jaunts has dried up or slowed down, leaving a number of the projects in limbo.
The Ottawa Citizen reported that funding for the Radarsat Constellation Mission, an Arctic surveillance program previously announced by the government, has stalled due to budget cuts.
And that is just the latest of projects announced by Harper on highly publicized northern trips to run out of steam. A new icebreaker announced in 2005 and again during Harper's 2008 trip has yet to be built; a proposal to turn Resolute Bay into a major airforce base will not proceed; plans for an Arctic naval refuelling base have been scaled back; Arctic offshore patrol ships are delayed; and the army does not have enough parkas and other equipment to conduct Arctic exercises.
Harper's announcement Thursday of new money for the Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay, which is positive news, should be viewed in the light of past announcements.
It is not surprising officials in Ottawa's U.S. embassy concluded (in documents released by WikiLeaks) that the Conservative government's northern announcements are mainly designed to win votes.
Security has been the focus of past prime ministerial trips north, with questionable results. This year's visit is heavily focused on northern resources, the exploitation of which Harper brands the national dream.
Resource development potential was even considered when the boundaries of a new national park were drawn.
"That great national dream - the development of northern resources - no longer sleeps," Harper said. "It is not down the road. It is happening now."
The exploitation of northern resources could be a game-changer for Canada's North in many ways, especially now that melting ice and warming temperatures are making it more accessible than ever.
Twenty-four projects are moving ahead, according to the federal government, with a potential revenue of $38 billion and the creation of 8,000 jobs.
Harper, who has made resource development - and clearing the way for that development - the cornerstone of his government's economic policy, says natural resources in the North will drive the Canadian economy in the future and generate wealth for northerners. A new revenue-sharing agreement with the Yukon, announced earlier this week, seems like a good start.
But for northerners to really benefit from the resource wealth flowing from underground, there must also be investments in social infrastructure and support to help people get jobs and make sure communities and individuals benefit from those jobs and spillover work. There has to be a concerted effort to make sure the resource rush does not leave northerners with little to show for it but a mess to clean up.
And if the future really is in the North, governments - both federal and territorial - have a responsibility to make sure northerners have proper access to health care, adequate housing and education as well as specific job training to participate in and benefit from that future.
