{"id":109119,"date":"2026-09-28T09:08:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=109119"},"modified":"2026-09-28T09:08:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:08:46","slug":"as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\/","title":{"rendered":"As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Dylan Robertson As Canada plans an ambitious expansion of defence and economic activity in the Arctic, regional experts are asking whether it has enough diplomats to build the ties it wants in the North. &#8220;The Arctic is a geopolitical hot spot,&#8221; said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. &#8220;The (Global Affairs) department does not have huge bench strength when it comes to Arctic diplomacy.&#8221; Here&#8217;s a look at how the Liberals have both cut back and restaffed positions across the North in recent years. Closing an expert centre In 2023, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau closed the Canadian International Arctic Centre, a hub for diplomacy across the region that had been operating within Canada&#8217;s embassy in Norway since 2009. In a briefing note obtained by The&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F09%2F28%2Fas-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dylan Robertson As Canada plans an ambitious expansion of defence and economic activity in the Arctic, regional experts are asking whether it has enough diplomats to build the ties it wants in the North. &#8220;The Arctic is a geopolitical hot spot,&#8221; said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. &#8220;The (Global Affairs) department does not have huge bench strength when it comes to Arctic diplomacy.&#8221; Here&#8217;s a look at how the Liberals have both cut back and restaffed positions across the North in recent years. Closing an expert centre In 2023, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau closed the Canadian International Arctic Centre, a hub for diplomacy across the region that had been operating within Canada&#8217;s embassy in Norway since 2009. In a briefing note obtained by The... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F09%2F28%2Fas-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dylan Robertson As Canada plans an ambitious expansion of defence and economic activity in the Arctic, regional experts are asking whether it has enough diplomats to build the ties it wants in the North. &#8220;The Arctic is a geopolitical hot spot,&#8221; said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. &#8220;The (Global Affairs) department does not have huge bench strength when it comes to Arctic diplomacy.&#8221; Here&#8217;s a look at how the Liberals have both cut back and restaffed positions across the North in recent years. Closing an expert centre In 2023, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau closed the Canadian International Arctic Centre, a hub for diplomacy across the region that had been operating within Canada&#8217;s embassy in Norway since 2009. In a briefing note obtained by The\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-28T13:08:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/28\\\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/28\\\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-28T13:08:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/28\\\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1319,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/28\\\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/28\\\/as-canada-pivots-to-arctic-experts-wonder-if-ottawa-has-enough-regional-diplomats\\\/\",\"name\":\"As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats - 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