This article originally appeared in The Hill Times. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Ken Coates, December 3, 2024
The territorial North has been in something of a steady state for the past two decades, finalizing devolution agreements that transfer federal authority to the territories, implementing major land claims and self-government accords, adjusting to more extensive and lengthy project evaluation systems, and working closely with Ottawa-based civil servants on a wide variety of social, economic and political initiatives. These changes have been made easier by a dramatic expansion in federal government spending and strong Liberal support for select northern initiatives. There are significant signs that this relatively steady state—one marked by the dramatic re-empowerment of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and the move to near-provincial status for the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut—is about to be disrupted.
The primary changes are coming from two directions: the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the likely change in the government in Canada in the election anticipated for fall 2025. These profound shifts in governance—one impending in two months and the other possibly within a year—could rattle northern policy in potentially dramatic ways.
The Trump presidency promises massive disruptions across the American government and economy, focused on unprecedented intentional efforts to undermine the “administrative state.” Many of these changes, combined with recently threatened substantial tariffs on Canadian imports, could cause considerable upheaval in Canada. President-elect Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” will have major effects on the Canadian energy sector, largely by pulling even more investment out of Canada. American aggression in oil and gas development will also draw attention to the costly, time-consuming, and disruptive project approval process in this country.
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