Policy

Canada’s federal government has approved redirecting $65 million from a 2018 National Trade Corridors Fund agreement toward early road, bridge, and planning work on the Mackenzie Valley Highway in the Northwest Territories, including resurfacing Highway 1 and relocating bridges.

The Canadian government has committed nearly $2 million through CanNor to four Indigenous‑led projects in the Northwest Territories, funding a new hangar for North‑Wright Airlines, a timber site in Fort Providence, financial system upgrades for Det’on Cho Management, and a youth entrepreneurship camp.

Canada will spend up to $49.5 million on runway and access road upgrades at Inuvik Airport this fall, adding a paved surface and asphalt road that will boost safety, capacity for heavier traffic and cargo, while reinforcing the airport’s role as a Royal Canadian Air Force and NORAD forward operating location in the Northwest Territories.

The governor plans to introduce a bill that would cut property taxes for the Alaska LNG project and add a 2% corporate income‑tax expansion for oil‑and‑gas companies, urging lawmakers to reconvene on Aug. 20.

An interview examines the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement that began in 2018, highlighting participation by Canada, Japan, Iceland, Norway, South [country] and four other major parties.

Alaska’s governor vetoed a bill that would have banned polystyrene statewide, sparking renewed activism from local groups and Indigenous communities who warn of health risks and wildlife damage caused by plastic foam.

Following China’s 2017 ban on elephant ivory, demand has surged for mammoth tusks dug from the permafrost of Yakutia and the New Siberian Islands. Hunters haul the frozen material to Chinese carving workshops where a kilogram can command up to $1,900, but the illegal extraction damages the fragile tundra ecosystem and erases valuable paleontological data.

Greenland’s authorities warned a Trump‑linked Texas oil firm after it moved exploratory drilling equipment ashore without permission, highlighting the country’s enforcement of Arctic drilling regulations.

Bids for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil leasing remain sparse even though the U.S. government has offered attractive terms, a finding highlighted in a Congressional Research Service report that traces how recent political reversals have discouraged private investors.

President Trump nominated former homeland security adviser Julia Nesheiwat to fill the U.S. ambassador‑at‑large for the Arctic, a post that has been vacant since Mike Sfraga resigned in January 2025 and was made statutory by the fiscal 2026 defense authorization act. The nomination, sent to Senate on August 7 and referred to the Foreign Relations Committee, is part of a larger effort to strengthen U.S. engagement in Arctic governance amid growing strategic competition with Russia and China.

Acho Dene Koe First Nation proposes converting Fort Liard from a hamlet into a charter community, citing a petition with 154 signatures and aiming to integrate the hamlet’s mayor‑council with the First Nation’s governance structure.

A federal plan to start Mackenzie Valley Highway construction next year faces regulatory and funding delays, as the Major Projects Office seeks environmental assessment clearance while Indigenous groups push for inclusive planning.

The Northwest Territories legislature added a legal definition of stalking to its Protection Against Family Violence Act and expanded emergency protection orders to cover more relationship types, including romantic partners who do not co‑habit, family caregivers, and vulnerable children. The changes allow victims civil remedies and let the RCMP publicly disclose stalkers’ identities for safety.

The Northwest Territories government has signed a memorandum with the NWT Art Centre Initiative to open a non‑commercial art gallery in Yellowknife’s former Akaitcho Hall, prompting criticism from Inuvik residents who say northern communities were not consulted and that broader cultural access may be limited.

India’s Arctic strategy is hampered by insufficient funding, limited research capacity, and weak diplomatic outreach, prompting experts to call for a clearer national narrative on the region’s climate impact and strategic value.

South Korea’s government has commissioned a study aimed at promoting the use of an Arctic maritime corridor that links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, signaling a strategic interest in expanding alternative shipping routes as ice melt opens more of the Arctic Ocean.