On Monday, I had the privilege of delivering a guest lecture to third- and fourth-year undergraduate students at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). The students were all taking part in the UNBC Geography Department’s course ‘Changing Arctic: Human and Environmental Systems’, convened by Prof Gail Fondahl. My lecture was entitled ‘”Greenshit go home” …
Tag: Nunavut

Making Nunavut a full partner in Canadian Confederation
While Canada’s HDI has long been one of the highest in the world, Nunavut ranks alongside Occupied Palestine and Paraguay with respect to health and educational outcomes. With their stunning recent election victory over the Conservatives, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new Liberal government may now have the chance to change that. Originally published by the …

Cecil, Nanuq and Inuk
Public outrage over the death of Cecil the lion at the hands of a sport hunter is calling into question the Canadian polar bear sport hunt—and threatening the valuable cultural and economic benefits that Canadian Inuit gain from it.
Remarks on Greenpeace and Clyde River in The Arctic Journal
Recently, journalist Kevin McGwin of Greenland’s The Arctic Journal asked me to comment on the budding relationship between Greenpeace and the Inuit community of Clyde River in Nunavut. Their common cause against seismic exploration in Baffin Bay has caused some surprise, not least because Greenpeace’s reputation amongst Inuit has scraped rock-bottom since the anti-sealing protests of …
Lecture at University of Chichester
I’m delighted to have been invited to speak at the University of Chichester tomorrow, March 28, as part of the History Department’s lecture series on contemporary politics. Making use of a popular slogan in Greenland, I’ve entitled my talk “‘Greenshit go home!’ Greenpeace, Greenland and green colonialism in the Arctic”. My focus will be the …
Citation in Canadian Parliament debate on NWT devolution
Yesterday, New Democrat MP for Vaudreuil-Soulanges Jamie Nicholls cited my article, “Nunavut, Greenland and the politics of resource revenues“, during the second reading of the Northwest Territories Devolution Act in the House of Commons. This is the second time he has cited my article in Parliament, and I’m pleased that he’s found it so useful. As …
Citation in Michigan State International Law Review
Tony Penikett and Adam Goldenberg have recently published a fascinating article in the Michigan State International Law Review, entitled “Closing the Citizenship Gap in Canada’s North: Indigenous Rights, Arctic Sovereignty, and Devolution in Nunavut”. In this article, Penikett and Goldenberg argue that the devolution of control over lands and resources in Nunavut from Ottawa to …
Citation in Polar Law Textbook II
Yesterday, the Nordic Council of Ministers published its second collection of essays on polar law, Polar Law Textbook II, edited by Natalia Loukacheva, Nansen Professor of Arctic Studies at the University of Akureyri. In his contribution to the collection, entitled “Destiny or dream: Sharing resources, revenues and political power in Nunavut devolution”, Tony Penikett cited …

Let’s ban bans in the Arctic
An update on this column’s coverage so far—mostly of the disquieting potential consequences for Northerners of proposals to ban various economic activities in the Arctic.

Arctic saviour complex
Greenpeace’s new campaign to “save the Arctic” flies in the face of cooperation with the states and indigenous peoples who already govern and occupy the region.