Settlement of Beaufort Sea boundary dispute must involve Inuvialuit, says IRC chair

The chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) in the N.W.T. says he expects his organization to be involved as Canada and the U.S. negotiate a long-standing boundary dispute in the Beaufort Sea.

Duane Ningaqsiq Smith says the negotiations could affect the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), if the international maritime boundary were to change.

Last month, Canada and the U.S. said they have created a task force to deal with a long-standing disagreement over a treaty dating from 1825. The countries said the task force will work on resolving overlapping claims over the area, which is north of Alaska, Yukon and the N.W.T.

Smith says he doesn't expect any negotiated agreement will reduce the size of the ISR, which was defined by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement in 1984. But he says he "can't fully say 100 per cent" whether it might affect Inuvialuit rights. 

"When you're putting things on the table, they're up for discussion," he said.

"We're going to be approaching this negotiation with our eyes wide open."

Smith said he already contacted "our cousins," the Inupiak of Alaska, to let them know that the IRC intends to be involved. He hopes the U.S. government also recognizes that Inupiak should have a say.  

"They should be at the table in my view, to take part in the discussions and negotiations and try to get this agreement in place," Smith said.

In a statement last month from Global Affairs Canada, the federal government said the task force "reflects the commitment of the United States and Canada to clarify our shared northern boundary through cooperative bilateral negotiation and meaningful engagement with state, territorial and Indigenous partners."

It said a final agreement would provide clarity, "bearing in mind the responsible conservation and sustainable use of Arctic resources for the mutual benefit of Americans and Canadians, including Indigenous Peoples."

A significant unknown, says Arctic security expert

Rob Huebert, a University of Calgary professor who specializes in Arctic defence and security, calls the Inuvialuit role in any Beaufort Sea negotiations "one of the most significant unknowns" right now. 

"At a minimum they're going to have to be consulted," Huebert said.

"The question is, in an international negotiation, how does the practicality of that actually work out? And that's something I'll be watching very closely."

Huebert believes there's a push to settle the boundary dispute now because of a growing realization that both Russia and China are becoming more active in the Arctic region. He says it's important to ensure there are no "irritants" between Canada and the U.S.

"I do think it's important that this issue get settled. We cannot have any form of dispute that can be acted upon by our enemies, to make our relationships worse," he said.