The Canadian public is captivated with the Arctic’s physical and imagined beauty and the historical narratives of adventures associated with the region. The predominant romantic ideas about the Canadian Arctic, however, have centuries-old origins which predate Canada’s existence as a nation-state. They have a strong foundation in the development of British nationalism and how British society interpreted and portrayed the Arctic region. In contemporary times, the romantic ideas in Canada have remained popular and are centred upon the view of the Arctic as a pristine frontier wilderness that belongs to Canada. The longevity and social acceptance of the general ideals of the romantic ideas make them a solid point of departure for beginning an overall examination of how the development of domestic beliefs have broader regional and international implications, as well as influence upon internal relations with sub-national groups.
What are the Predominant Romantic Ideals?
The association of the Arctic as an ideal pristine space is a reoccurring feature in Canada’s cultural-political relationship with the Arctic as well as in international perceptions of the region, historically and now. Pristine means “in its original condition; unspoilt” or “clean and fresh as if new; spotless”.1 When it comes to beliefs, “many beliefs can have a strong element of commitment and faith,” and despite evidence that undermines the notion of the Arctic as a pristine wilderness, the concept of the pristine is a very important part of collective perceptions about the Arctic and the North in Canada.2
The key descriptors used about the romantic ideas of the Arctic is pure, white, untouched and silent; a frozen other world.
3 The idea of a
pristine Canadian Arctic is just that, an idea, but
[t]he notion that nature is socially constructed, rather than a pure identity external to society, forces us to take responsibility for how this remaking of nature occurs, in whose interests, and with what consequences.4
This is a very important point to contemplate when we consider how and why culturally held ideas about the Arctic influence the Government of Canada’s approach to disputes in the Canadian Arctic region. The romanticized ideas of the Arctic as a
pristine wilderness did not just come into existence; they have origins, which were constructed both intentionally and inadvertently by governments, media outlets and other cultural and social influences. They serve a purpose in Canadian society and affect how the Government of Canada represents Canadians domestically and internationally on matters related to the Arctic.
For example, according to experts in Arctic decontamination and internal governmental affairs, the past use of Canada’s Arctic region in the early twentieth century for land-based resource extraction and defence infrastructure scarred the Canadian landscape, but it was done out of the public’s eye.5 For the Arctic, most of this damage was done with very little public awareness of the consequences for the region as a result of poor business and government department practices. Examples of poor developmental practices included military infrastructure (e.g. Dew Lines) that contaminated the environment with Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and mining operations that were permitted to abandon sites without environmental clean-up or ecosystem restoration once the resources were extracted. Canadians remain largely oblivious to the past scars on the region’s landscape, but the idea of the region as a pure, preserved world is a staple aspect in the Canadian public’s romanticized ideas about the Arctic.
Second, the British history of the Arctic region is another core element of the romantic ideas. Explorers’ reports about the Arctic became public knowledge through their published journals, in which they emphasized the features and experiences they had with the environment around them.6 Their emphasis on the physical environment helped to create the image of a large area that was untouched and almost unused, resulting in the transfer of the idea of wilderness as a place beyond civilization from Europe to North America in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.7 The distinctive portrayal of the British involvement in the Arctic, particularly the 1845 Royal Navy Franklin expedition and the quest for a path through the Northwest Passage , is an element of Canada’s overall Northern history that is unique to the narratives that describe the Arctic region. The North , however, is often seen in a more general way as a “wilderness, a place beyond southern civilization, agricultural settlement, or urban life”.8 As such, the North has been much like a preserved vestibule for the last great frontier and therefore available to encompass both the flexibly defined Arctic and the sub-Arctic regions.
Lastly, in the twenty-first century, the Government of Canada became very active in promoting the sense of Canadian ownership over the Arctic, particularly under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A prime example of this is the 2010 “Statement on Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy”. The document outlines a culturally embedded belief that the Arctic is fundamentally Canadian.9 The 2011 Munk School of Global Affairs survey of public opinion confirmed that the concept of the Arctic is very important “to Canadians’ conceptions of themselves and their future”.10 The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2015–present) has been less active in associating itself with the Arctic region as part of its effort to distance itself from the previous government which promoted its Arctic agenda heavily. The Trudeau government, however, has quietly maintained the stance of the fundamentally Canadian character of the Arctic.11
The concept that the Arctic is fundamentally a part of Canada is linked to the inflated belief in the size of the Canadian Arctic and what it represents; an occurrence linked to later discussions about spatial identity —the identification of a group with lands that are or are perceived to be within the group’s control.12 The perception of the greatness and achievement of Canada through its ownership of the Arctic is partly associated with its geographical size. When Canada was formed in 1867, it began to expand North, encouraged by key figures like Senator Pascal Poirier and the Canadian Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson.13 The perception of Canada’s Arctic has taken on ...
