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A Special Role for Canada
The Deteriorating Situation in Northern Russia / Canada Agrees to Act /
Planning the Operation / Delivering the Goods / Sireniki / Provideniya / The Future
By Terry Fenge
Introduction
Canadians accustomed to helping people in distress in Africa and Central and South America might be surprised to learn that, in January 1999, Canada provided humanitarian assistance to Russia - a superpower only a few years ago. Additional assistance has been provided this winter and more will be needed in the months and years to come. Indigenous peoples in the Russian north are particularly in need of help, but their plight is rarely featured by the press in North America and western Europe and they are easily overlooked by their own government as it struggles with economic crises closer to home. That Inuit and other Canadian Aboriginal peoples are eager to respond adds poignancy and a new public policy dimension to this too-human situation. Indeed, aid to Russia raises important questions of foreign policy and foreign aid priorities.
The federal Cabinet will soon consider a draft northern foreign policy prepared under the direction of Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, with the active support of other ministers, including Jane Stewart, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Canada has both an obligation and an opportunity to help Russia - now our Arctic neighbour and friend - and particularly northern Russia, in this time of great difficulty. Cabinet should make aid to northern Russia a northern foreign policy priority and encourage the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to adopt innovative ways to provide support, including using partnerships between Canadian and Russian indigenous peoples.
The Deteriorating Situation in Northern Russia
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That winter 1998-1999 would prove exceptionally difficult for many Russians was obvious months earlier. At the ICC general assembly in July in Nuuk, Greenland, Lubov Otrokova, President of ICC (Chukotka), described harrowing conditions in the Russian far east. In September Russian delegates informally raised the need for assistance at the first ministerial meeting of the eight-nation Arctic Council in Iqaluit, and later that month the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) issued an appeal for at least $20 million (CDN) to assist more than 1.5 million of the most vulnerable people - pensioners, the handicapped, the homeless, orphans, and large families - in Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Federation of Russia. Articles in The New York Times drew attention to the deteriorating conditions, and in October Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov asked the European Union for food aid. In Canada, Jane Stewart received a direct, personal appeal from Sergei Haruchi, President of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples (RAIPON) on October 28, and official Ottawa moved into action, reflecting the desire of key federal ministers to respond promptly and positively.
The federal government does much of its work through interagency committees. Mary Simon, Canada's Arctic Ambassador, brought together federal agencies with interests in Russia, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada), the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS), and Care Canada to discuss how Canada should respond. A core group, including Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, CIDA, ICC (Canada), and the CRCS, was charged with developing response options. As both the United States and the European Union publicly considered providing bulk grain supplies to Russia (they formally agreed in December and January, respectively), and with Lloyd Axworthy scheduled to visit Moscow on November 10, 1998, the stage was set for Canada to respond.
On November 11, front-page headlines in The Globe and Mail announced, " Canada will send relief to starving Russians: natives to get food and clothing after issuing desperate appeal." Quoting aides to the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and personnel from the Canadian embassy in Moscow, the story suggested as much as $10 million would be allocated for relief supplies to isolated northern communities in the Russian far east. Igor Ivanov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, had responded "favourably" in a private dinner with Lloyd Axworthy even though the federation government would not formally request assistance, as to do so might have had negative domestic political implications.
With the personal engagement of the minister, any second thoughts in Ottawa were banished, notwithstanding nagging concerns about how, where, when, and by whom Canadian aid would be delivered and the ongoing need for accurate information about social and economic conditions in the Russian Arctic. CIDA, the agency with a budget to provide Canadian aid, made it clear it would require a proposal from others to deliver and distribute aid. The example of aid from Scandinavian countries to the Barents Sea region in northwest Russia was also important in spurring Canada forward.
In late autumn 1998, Canada suggested each member of the Arctic Council might assist a specific region in northern Russia, with overall co-ordination by the full council. Simultaneously, the Anchorage-based Northern Forum, an association of regional governments in the circumpolar North, proposed that it co-ordinate delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance in the Russian far east. In short, government and non-government groups alike were now turning their attention to Russia's need for help.
With the active involvement of RAIPON, and drawing heavily upon the expertise of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the core group in Canada proposed to CIDA a two-phase project to deliver food (pasta, cooking oil, flour, tea, etc.), medical kits, blankets, and candles to villages in the Russian far east. ICC (Canada) and the CRCS would be awarded contracts to purchase supplies, arrange transport, and deliver aid on behalf of the Government of Canada. An initial pre-Christmas "emergency" delivery to about 1300 people in three Inuit and Chukchi communities in Chukotka - Sireniki, Yanrakynnot, and Enurmino - was to be followed by a larger operation supplying villages in Kamchatka and Magadan as well as additional villages in Chukotka.
On December 11, CIDA announced it would contribute $500,000 to the operation. Canada also funded a one-month IFRC and Russian Red Cross (RRC) mission to the Russian far east to assess the need for humanitarian assistance and, it seems, as a prelude to re-establishing the RRC in the region.
The first operation was designed, in part, as a "demonstration project" to determine whether supplies could be delivered quickly and efficiently in mid-winter to villages in a very isolated region and whether the federation and Chukotkan governments would help or hinder. As well, it would lay the groundwork for the second, larger operation and encourage other nations to mount aid programmes of their own. The members of the mission were also asked to conduct a local assessment of social and health conditions to supplement the larger humanitarian-needs assessment of IFRC/RRC.
RAIPON provided much of the data needed to identify communities in greatest need and plan the first operation. Indeed, RAIPON, in consultation with federation and Chukotkan government agencies, chose the three communities to be assisted. Church groups in Alaska already transporting limited amounts of food and clothing into the region and the Northern Forum provided valuable logistical information. The core group learned of intransigent, capricious customs officers in Anadyr, the capital of Chukotka, and of Alaskan shipments of food, clothing, and medicine that had been refused entry at the border on the most flimsy of reasons. It was clearly very important to have all permits and authorizations and the blessing and co-operation of Russian and Chukotkan authorities before setting off.
The core group purchased supplies and arranged transportation from Ottawa to Anadyr in a Boeing 727 offered at cost by First Air. The Canadian embassy in Moscow arranged with the Chukotkan and federation governments for ongoing shipment to the villages by fixed-wing planes and helicopters. Volunteers from the Ottawa Inuit community, CRCS, local high schools, and federal agencies packaged supplies during the Christmas vacation.
All residents of targeted communities - it was thought impossible, inappropriate, and unnecessary to apply a "means test" - were to receive aid. Each village council/mayor would be responsible for distributing supplies to families and individuals within the village.
A Moscow-based committee of Russian and Chukotkan government agencies, RAIPON, ICC (Canada), and the Canadian embassy worked to get permits and authorizations required for the mission. The committee' s success was, in large measure, a result of the co-ordinative work in Moscow of the director of ICC Canada' s ongoing Russian institution and democracy-building programme and assistance of Canadian embassy personnel. The ICC programme had already established cordial and business-like relations with RAIPON and federation government agencies. The core group in Ottawa was aware that supplies could fall into the hands of corrupt officials and the black market or be stolen - particularly if they were transported over great distances in Russia via Russian carriers.
For these reasons and for expediency, phase one used a Canadian carrier and supplies purchased in Canada; and representatives of CIDA, ICC (Canada), RAIPON, CRCS, federal agencies, and the Canadian embassy in Moscow prepared to monitor the operation on the ground. Observers from the RRC also planned to attend both to learn from the Canadian operation and to establish a presence in the region.
Dubbed the "Inuit Express" by The Globe and Mail, the Canadian mission left - with fingers crossed - for Chukotka on January 5, 1999.
A bevy of officials from Moscow and the Chukotka government, representatives of RAIPON and ICC Chukotka, and Geoff York, Moscow-based correspondent for The Globe and Mail , met the Canadian mission in Anadyr. Although the mission embarrassingly lacked a crucial certificate guaranteeing the quality of food to be distributed, Russian authorities waved the supplies through after a quick inspection of only one box. Precious goodwill had been generated in Moscow by planning the mission directly with federation and Chukotkan authorities. Over vodka toasts that evening, it was clear that Russian agencies took the mission to help a region often starved of attention at face value and appreciated the participatory manner in which it had been organized and was being implemented.
Russian planes were on time to ferry supplies to Provideniya, where the supplies were loaded into helicopters and taken to the communities. Delivery was efficient, ahead of schedule, and cheerful during a week blessed with clear, sunny weather. On January 12, the mission returned to Canada delighted with how smooth the operation had been.
Flying low over the mountains separating Provideniya from the communities in aged, overloaded Russian helicopters is unnerving. As rotors claw the air, constant vibration prompts thoughts of parts loosening and falling off. The pilots - European Russians from Moscow - are unconcerned. Sireniki, a village of about 650 people, becomes visible in the distance as a black and brown smudge on an otherwise white and seemingly pristine landscape. A lone smokestack belches smoke - the community is centrally heated by coal. The crusted slag tip, glowing red and yellow, reminds me of South Wales, where I was a student. We land and are immediately surrounded by curious children and expectant adults. Many hands transfer the boxes to a military truck to transport to the village hall.
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The community is in deep and chronic crisis and seems rapidly approaching an acute, emergency situation. Government rules and regulations don't help. Hunters require written permission from local border guards to launch their boats to hunt for whales and walruses; if they return late, the guards withdraw the privilege to hunt for some days. We don' t understand how those with power over local people could see hunting as a nine-to-five occupation. Sergei unlocks a large shack where the umiak - a walrus skinned boat used for hunting - is stored along with four outboard motors, each being cannibalized to get one working. Sergei sighs and shakes his head. The Russian motors are "no good." Can we get him and his fellow hunters some good Japanese or American models? We promise to try.
We see the aluminum skiffs donated to the community by the North Slope Borough in Alaska, and Sergei tells of donated whale guns and ammunition. Fermented walrus meat is a major component of the local diet and without it this community would be in dire straits. Inhaling slowly on a wicked-looking cigarette, he explains the vagaries of hunting and the need to go ever farther into the Bering Strait to get the elusive walrus. Now with a quota from the International Whaling Commission, locals look more and more to Bowhead whaling to provide the community with meat. Relations are strong once more with Inupiat and Yupik - kith and kin- in northern and western Alaska. All we meet are curious about Canada and immensely grateful that we have brought food to ease the winter.
As our helicopter lifts off I look down through a dirty window, surveying the village and its magnificent coastal setting. The sun, almost anchored to the horizon, glints off the adjacent low mountains. I cannot shake two images: Natalia, a bundle of energy and concern, coping still - but for how long? And the children of Sireniki romping down the main street, like kids everywhere - but to what future?
Back in Provideniya - once a seaport of about 5000 people servicing the eastern end of the Northeast Passage - we visit the hospital and TB sanitorium, the offices of the local administration, the museum, the eskimo society, and the Union of Marine Mammal Hunters of Chukotka and speak with locals on the street and in the technical high school, in which we are billeted. Provideniya is also in bad shape. Many of the ugly, squat tower blocks are empty, their windows broken and jagged glass hidden in the snow. Streets are empty, vehicles few and far between. Overhead, smoke billows from the coal power plant at the other end of town. The main street is like the dusty, windswept landscape of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western - but at minus 30 degrees.
All we see speaks of decay, seediness, and collapse. Scores of European Russians have left Provideniya in search of work and have taken with them valuable and badly needed technical and administrative skills. Are Aboriginal peoples in the communities able to pick up the pieces? Our evening with Ludmilla Ainana, chair of the eskimo society, and a dozen or so of her friends, talking, sipping tea, and moving and singing to the hand-held drums is the key to our stay. Ludmilla has travelled widely in Russia and in North America. She wants us to know two things: the Inuit are "hanging on," under threat perhaps, but tenacious still, and they are committed to their culture and way of life. Stoical and dogged, she turns to us and says: "things are hard and getting worse, but we only know how hard when you come."
It is commendable, but expensive, to fly boxes of food and blankets to Arctic Russia and distribute them to those most obviously in need. Our deliveries were a tiny drop in a large ocean of need and deprivation. We demonstrated, however, that such an operation could be mounted successfully and that Canadian supplies could be targeted to and distributed within Aboriginal villages in the Arctic in mid-winter, when only a few hours of daylight flying time are available. We showed that government and non-government agencies in Canada could join with agencies in Russia to plan and deliver humanitarian assistance. Canada not only has a natural "niche" helping residents of small communities in the Arctic, but enjoys broad public interest and support for such operations. This is important, for the federal government's humanitarian assistance and foreign aid budgets are sorely pressed by demands all over the world.
The European Union and the United States have been accused of solving domestic problems by "giving" large supplies of surplus, subsidized grain to the Russian Federation. While observers suggest that such gifts distort local markets, Aboriginal peoples in the Russian far east ask a more pointed question: Will any of these supplies be distributed to them? Modest though its first results are, the Canadian approach contrasts strongly and, we hope favourably, with approaches taken by the European Union and the United States.
We expect that Canada will increase its aid to Arctic Russia. On February 8, 1999, the IFRC issued an appeal for approximately $7 million (CDN) to enable it and the RRC to provide food, clothing, and medical supplies to 82,000 residents of Chukotka, Kamchatka, and Magadan in the Russian far east. One week later the parliamentary secretary to the minister of International Development announced that Canada would contribute "up to $5 million."
Three important lessons emerge from the January mission to Chukotka. First - and perhaps foremost - the people to receive assistance should be involved in planning and carrying out the projects. Aid "parachuted" from afar relieves immediate suffering but contributes to the "culture of dependency" that binds recipients and donors. Like their cousins in Canada, Aboriginal peoples in Arctic Russia aspire to self-government, economic self-sufficiency, and cultural renewal. Closer links between Aboriginal peoples' organizations and non-government organizations that specialize in humanitarian assistance might help them manage their own crisis and promote the achievement of their broad goals.
A second lesson concerns the type of aid best suited to people in Arctic Russia. Traditional food and clothing assistance programmes are a " quick fix," but Inuit and Chukchi in Chukotka - and likely Aboriginal peoples in other northern regions - need tools and technology to reinvigorate their way of life and local economies based on hunting, fishing, trapping, herding, and gathering. Fishing nets, small boats, outboard motors, guns, ammunition, etc., while not a panacea to the varied economic and social problems facing Aboriginal peoples in Arctic Russia, would help numerous people.
A final lesson from the Chukotka operation concerns the value of including Aboriginal peoples' organizations, such as ICC, in humanitarian aid operations that target Aboriginal peoples. Aboriginal peoples in the circumpolar Arctic work closely together through their representative associations - ICC, Sami Council, RAIPON, and the International Aleut Association. Historically these organizations have addressed environmental, wildlife conservation, and sustainable development issues in a loosely co-ordinated fashion, aided by a Copenhagen-based Indigenous Peoples Secretariat. These organizations have an abiding concern about the future of Aboriginal peoples in Arctic Russia and could add considerable value to the efforts of national governments to assist Russia in its time of great need.
Terry Fenge is Director of Research,
Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada)
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference
ICC defends the rights and furthers the interests of Inuit in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Chukotka - the far east of the Federation of Russia. Established in 1977, ICC maintains national offices in the four countries and enjoys official observer status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ICC's international president is Aqqaluk Lynge of Greenland. Noted for its efforts to conserve and protect the environment and to promote sustainable development, ICC also defends and promotes the human rights of Inuit, the Arctic's original inhabitants.
