A rights‐based approach to indigenous women and gender inequities in resource development in northern Canada

• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Author: Konstantia Koutouki,Katherine Lofts,Giselle Davidian
• Date: 01 April 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12240

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

A rights-based approach to indigenous women and gender

inequities in resource development in northern Canada

Konstantia Koutouki

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Katherine Lofts

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Giselle Davidian

Correspondence

Email: konstantia.koutouki@umontreal.ca In recent years, there has been an influx of investment in the Arctic, particularly in

relation to the extractive industries. Yet in spite of their economic potential, extract-

ive industry projects come with considerable social and environmental risks for

northern indigenous communities. Within these communities, the associated chal-

lenges of resource development are felt most acutely by women; however, there is

a lack of research and analysis concerning the gendered dimension of resource

development in northern Canada through the lens of indigenous women’s human

rights. This article proposes the adoption of a rights-based approach to address this

issue, suggesting that such an approach can provide a coherent framework for

enhancing the inclusion and well-being of indigenous women in resource develop-

ment, helping to ensure that Canada meets its human rights and constitutional obli-

gations while furthering its commitment to reconciliation with indigenous peoples.

1

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INTRODUCTION

In recent years, there has been an influx of investment in the Arctic,

with experts predicting that investments in the region could reach

US$100 billion by 2023.

1

This investment boom is due in part to cli-

mate change. The Arctic is warming more quickly than other parts of

the globe, and the melting sea ice is opening new transportation

routes, in addition to increasing the viability of resource exploration

and extraction.

2

Indeed, the Arctic is thought to contain 30 percent

of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13 percent of its undiscovered

oil,

3

as well as significant quantities of coal, diamonds, uranium,

phosphate, nickel, platinum and other precious minerals.

4

Yet in spite of their economic potential in the region, extractive

industry projects come with considerable social and environmental

risk. The environmental consequences of disasters in the Arctic are

likely to be worse than in other regions, due to the extreme envir-

onmental conditions and lack of infrastructure.

5

For example, oil spill

management and clean-up operations are much more difficult in the

Arctic environment.

6

Extractive industry operations also bring with

them a range of social and cultural changes, many of which may be

detrimental to neighbouring indigenous communities. James Anaya,

the former United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples, has identified natural resource extraction and

other development projects on or near indigenous territories as ‘one

of the foremost concerns of indigenous peoples worldwide, and pos-

sibly also the most pervasive source of the challenges to the full

exercise of their rights’.

7

In Canada, the risks associated with

resource extraction and its impacts on indigenous communities must

also be considered in the context of the legacy of colonialism that

exists in the country, including a history of underfunding basic ser-

vices for indigenous peoples, poor decision making over land and

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1

G Whiteman, C Hope and P Wadhams, ‘Vast Costs of Arctic Change’(2013) 499 Nature

401, 401; C Emmerson and G Lahn, ‘Arctic Opening: Opportunity and Risk in the High

North’(Lloyd’s 2012). However, some scholars suggest that estimates of economic develop-

ment in the Arctic have been overblown. For example, K€

apyl€

a and Mikkola note that

‘[a]lthough the Arctic will develop economically, the pace and extent of the economic devel-

opments are likely to remain moderate. Consequently, the geoeconomic importance of the

region is often exaggerated in policy formation, public discourse and popular imaginary’;J

K€

apyl€

a and H Mikkola, ‘The Promise of the Geoeconomic Arctic: A Critical Analysis’(2016)

14 Asia Europe Journal 203, 217.

2

K€

apyl€

a and Mikkola (n 1) 203–205.

3

United States Geological Survey, ‘Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal: Estimates of Undis-

covered Oil and Gas North of the Arctic Circle’(2008); DL Gautier et al, ‘Assessment of

Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Arctic’(2009) 324 Science 1175.

4

F Jordans, ‘Warming Arctic Spurs Battles for Abundant Natural Resources and Prized Ship-

ping Routes’(The Star, 23 August 2017).

5

Emmerson and Lahn (n 1).

6

K€

apyl€

a and Mikkola (n 1) 208.

7

Human Rights Council (HRC) ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indige-

nous Peoples, James Anaya’UN Doc A/HRC/18/35 (11 July 2011) para 57.

DOI: 10.1111/reel.12240

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