The CWG believes that the report of the Standing Committee can be an effective tool in promoting public discussion on Canada's obligations and opportunities in the Arctic. In making its own views public, the CWG hopes to stimulate a national discourse on Canada roles in the future of the circumpolar Arctic. In spite of the many strengths of the report and its good intentions, it could have spoken more forcefully to the need to improve our ability, in both domestic and international policy spheres, to imagine, to design, and to act as a society that is uniquely northern and to do so with coherence, reciprocity, mutual respect, and a sense of self-reliance rooted in interdependence. Connections give rise to consciousness, identity, and shared experiences, all essential in charting purpose, policy and practice. A wider consciousness is needed in which northern institutions and organizations, especially those of Aboriginal societies and public governments, exert an upward and outward reaching momentum.
Northern nations share values, cultures, economies, and ecologies.
Circumpolar issues are intertwined with national ones. If we are to be successful in our international obligations and opportunities, then our domestic house must be put in order. These innovations are often a product of three of Canada's distinctive and prominent areas of concern, namely, Aboriginal initiatives, environment, and the North. Taken together they provide much of the basis for a credible approach to sustainable development. A number of our domestic, bilateral, and multilateral initiatives are setting standards for future cooperative action.