Fourth Year Winner: Do Words Speak Louder than Actions? Sovereignty Theatre in Canadian Arctic Policy

POLS 4101, Canada and the Arctic. CD: Gabrielle Slowey.

Abstract

In this exemplary paper, the author examines communications by the Harper government regarding its Arctic policy and demonstrates a striking disconnect between what those communications had promised and the actual consequences of the government’s actions. Drawing on the idea of “security theatre” (government activities designed to reassure the public that they are being protected when in fact those activities are likely to be ineffectual), she finds that the government mounted a “sovereignty theatre” in respect of perceived threats to Canada’s ability to control its sovereign territory in the Arctic. Focusing in particular on the Harper government’s feeble commitments to Indigenous Arctic peoples, she shows that its words spoke louder than its actions.