End of oil and gas exploration ban in the Canadian Arctic? Carney does not rule it out

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that his government has not yet decided whether to lift the ten-year moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration in Arctic waters. However, the debate over opening the region to drilling is gaining importance as Canada’s northern territories seek to strengthen their economic self-sufficiency and gain greater control over the use of their natural resources.

Canada’s federal budget last week set aside 11 million Canadian dollars (7.8 million US dollars) over four years to support the management and oversight of oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Speaking in Montreal, Carney stressed that the funding is intended to strengthen the capacity of Inuit leadership, with which the federal government has agreed to jointly manage natural resources in the country’s north. According to the prime minister, the funding is not preparation for lifting the moratorium, but part of a broader effort to involve Indigenous peoples in decisions about the region’s future.