Ottawa And Iqaluit, May 9, 2001
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference Canada and Vice-President of ICC, today congratulated the Prime Minister and ministers of Environment and Foreign Affairs and International Trade upon the announcement that Canada would sign and ratify the global convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on May 23.
Key POPs, including PCBs and DDT, are brought to the Arctic by air currents. They bioaccumulate in the food web and in the bodies of Inuit and other northern aboriginal people who eat large quantities of traditional “country food,” particularly marine mammal fats. Ms. Watt-Cloutier noted, “This is an issue of public health, cultural protection, and environmental quality. We already face many challenges in the Arctic, and the last thing we need to deal with is a threat to the integrity of our highly nutritious traditional food.”
Federal and territorial agencies and northern aboriginal peoples’ organizations have co-operated for ten years in the Northern Contaminants Programme (NCP) to research this issue. She added, “With today’s announcement, this programme has proven its worth, for the NCP provided the scientific data needed to persuade Arctic countries and then the globe that international action was required.” The global POPs negotiations were sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Four northern aboriginal peoples’ organizations–Inuit Circumpolar Conference Canada, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, Dene Nation, and the Council for Yukon First Nations–formed a coalition to intervene in the global POPs negotiations. They were joined by the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North. The coalition intervened in all negotiating sessions in Montreal, Geneva, Bonn, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. Preambular language in the convention singles out the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples, the first legally-binding, global convention to do so.
“The Canadian negotiating team did a good job” said Ms. Watt-Cloutier, adding “They listened to and acted upon the concerns of northern aboriginal peoples. We learned a great deal from each other, soon worked from the same script, and both engaged in corridor lobbying so crucial in international negotiations.”
In particular, Ms. Watt-Cloutier praised the efforts of Dr. John Buccini, until recently a senior civil servant in the federal Department of the Environment. “John chaired the international negotiations with skill, diplomatic tact, and tenacity. He embodied the commitment and professionalism needed to persuade countries in all portions of the globe to conclude this convention.” She also singled out Klaus Topfer, former Environment Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany and currently Executive Director of UNEP. Ms Watt-Cloutier concluded “John and Klaus treated northern Indigenous peoples with respect. They listened to and acted upon what we said, strengthening us all–North and South alike–in the process.
Ms. Watt-Cloutier will attend the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm as a member of the Canadian delegation and plans to speak to the gathered nations on May 22.
For additional information contact:
Ms. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, President ICC Canada
613-563-2642 or 867-979-4661;
Dr. Terry Fenge
613-722-7006
Ms Stephanie Meakin
613-258-9471