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The Polar Retrospective – A Canadian apology, a new airport, and a French-Chilean friendship

Administrator 2. December 2024 | Antarctica, Arctic, Science, Uncategorized
Since 2022, Air Greenland has owned and operated an Airbus A330neo. But it was only last week that it was able to land in Nuuk for the first time ever. Photo: Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia Commons
Since 2022, Air Greenland has owned and operated an Airbus A330neo. But it was only last week that it was able to land in Nuuk for the first time ever. Photo: Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia Commons

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent events around the world’s polar regions. This week, we look at a mass-slaughter of sled-dogs, an airport expansion, and a French-Chiliean cooperation that may extent to Antarctica.

The Polar Retrospective is a collaborative effort by the Polar Journal team. Each writer chooses a topic they found interesting and important in the past week. The intitials at the end of each section indicate the author. We hope you enjoy it.

Canada apologizes for slaughter of Nunavik dogs

Essential for travel, hunting and fishing, dogs were an essential resource in Inuit life. Photo: Library and Archives Canada Blog

On November 23, Canada officially apologized for the slaughter of sled dogs in Nunavik in the 1950s and 1960s. “Today, the Government of Canada accepted responsibility for its role in a terrible historic injustice and expressed its deep regret and sincere apology for the harms inflicted by the slaughter of qimmiit [Inuktitut for sled dog, editor’s note] in Nunavik.”,  said Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. ”This is not only an important step toward advancing reconciliation and renewing our relationship with Nunavik Inuit communities, but it is simply the right thing to do.”

The apology is accompanied by a financial settlement of C$45 million (over €30 million). This amount will not only compensate the victims, but also ensure the implementation of support programs to promote healing and cultural revitalization, led by Makivvik, the legal representative of Quebec’s Inuit.

Some 1,000 dogs were shot by the Canadian police, with no regard for the consequences for the Inuit population. At the time, the government cited reasons of public health and safety to justify the cull. This explanation was always questioned by Inuit, who saw it as a way of depriving them of their main means of transport. The mass slaughter of the dogs, traumatic in itself, had a devastating effect on the communities. Unable to travel, and therefore unable to hunt and fish, the Inuit saw their traditional way of life and autonomy disappear as food and economic insecurity set in. 

The mass slaughter has also virtually wiped out the breed of dog known as the qimmiit or qimmiq. Used for centuries by the Inuit, this Canadian Inuit dog has become the official animal of Nunavut.

This apology follows those made by the federal government to the Inuit of Nunavut in 2019 and by Quebec in 2011. M.B.

First ever Airbus landed in Nuuk

The landing of the first ever Airbus drew a big crowd around the airport. Social media from Nuuk was full of videos like this last week. Video: @Mooncake and Cupcake / Youtube

In the past few years, Greenland’s capital Nuuk has made the runway of its airport longer. An insignificant expansion, it may seem. But in an area with no piece of land long enough for an international airport, it has been far from easy. 

The airport expansion is a significant piece of engineering; requiring the explosion, moving and reconstructing of a whole mountainside. No wonder, therefore, that it was with much fanfare and countless celebratory words when last week, the first Airbus landed and took off again on the new, 2200 meter long runway.

Before Thursday November 28th only smaller airplanes like the Dash-8 were able to land in Nuuk. Most visitors to the capital thus had to pass through Kangerlussuaq further north, making the trip quite a bit longer. 

Officials and tourism operators in Nuuk hope that the expansion will lead to more visitors and more exports. The first load of fresh fish has already been sent back to Copenhagen, Denmark, from where the plane came. 

As a consequence of the airport expansion, a new route between Nuuk and New York has also been planned. It will be open from June to September 2025 and be run by United AirlinesO.E.

A gesture of friendship between Chile and France to promote polar science

The Chilean polar research institute Milenio Base welcomes President Macron aboard the national icebreaker with President Boric. Image : Executive Office of the President of Chile

On November 21 and 22 in Valparaiso, France and Chile affirmed their desire to strengthen polar scientific cooperation between the two countries in a broader declaration on the protection of the oceans. Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Boric underlined the importance of the organisations of the Antarctic Treaty system and their desire to pursue scientific efforts, as the main international forums of the Antarctic Treaty are based on facts produced by research.

The Consultative Meetings and the CCAMLR Commission meeting are the two main decision-making bodies. The former deals with activities in Antarctica and the latter with fisheries in the Southern Ocean. France and Chile are therefore committed to working together on joint scientific projects, such as the project to create a network of MPAs around Antarctica.

The French president said he wanted to build more bridges between research centres and welcome more Chilean students to France. Among the scientists representing the universities were Dr Elie Poulin, Director of the Milenio BASE Institute, Léa Cabrol, a biologist from the Institute for Research and Development, and Alejandro Maass, a doctor of mathematics from the University of Chile. This combination of polar, oceanographic and mathematical research could be an opportunity for the two countries to develop a specific branch of artificial intelligence, as they declared.

The meeting between the presidents ended with a visit aboard the icebreaker Almirante Viel, which ‘demonstrates not only our country’s technical and scientific capacity, but also our deep commitment to Antarctica and the ocean’, explained President Gabriel Boric. Last year, the French President announced the construction of the Michel Rocard, a ship with ice capacity for Antarctic research. “I propose that the Almirante Viel and the Michel Rocard together launch the first major Franco-Chilean Antarctic research campaign by 2030.” C.L

Polar Journal AG

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