Yukon gets $300K to work toward an Arctic security institute for the North

Over the next 17 months, the Yukon government will look at the possibility of creating a Canadian institute for Arctic security in the territory. 

Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said the federal government has contributed $300,000 to study the project, with the territorial government also contributing $70,000. 

That study, led by the Yukon government, will be done in partnership with First Nations in the territory and will look at how it can collaborate with partners, the premier said. 

"The Arctic is becoming a focal point of geopolitics," Pillai said, speaking to reporters alongside Yukon Liberal MP Brendan Hanley.

Pillai also said northern security projects have historically driven infrastructure development in the territories but "without the consultation of northerners." Pillai said this project aims to change that, with the next 17 months dedicated to talking with stakeholders. 

"The threats we have are no longer just military," he said. "We've urged the federal government to invest meaningfully in Arctic sovereignty." 

The institute is supposed to be a "pan-territorial resource to develop a northern approach to security and its links to social and economic development," a news release said. 

Board to determine where institute is, what it will do 

Pillai said a governance board made of up of representatives from First Nations, the Yukon government, Yukon University and more will decide what the new institute is, along with where it will live. 

For now, Pillai said the work on the institute will be done out of existing Yukon government offices. 

"Our focus is not to build a building, or lease space," he said. "It's about folks coming to the Yukon both nationally and globally, to have that conversation," he said. 

Pillai said the institute will provide a space for people to come together to ensure the North's needs are met when it comes to Arctic security. 

"There's not a place right now where I go where the conversation isn't about Arctic security and security in the North," he said.