"I believe that in the geopolitical circumstances I was taking office ... the threats to the North were actually quite serious."

"I think I've been borne out in that regard, I didn't anticipate that being our southern neighbour."

"I think the reality is, the federal government manages this country right, puts the stress on unity and not on ideological tangents, and there's no reason why we can't pull the country together at this moment."

Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper 

 

"During his tenure as prime minister, Mr. Harper emphasized the importance of Arctic sovereignty to Canada, foreshadowing recent geopolitical developments in that region."

"His government oversaw the creation of Canada's first urban national park in the Rouge Valley, protected Sable Island as a national park reserve, expanded Nahanni National Park and created Naats'ihch'oh National Park in the Northwest Territories."

Royal Canadian Geographic Society press release 

Former prime ministers Jean Chrétien, left, and Stephen Harper, centre, take part in a discussion of Canadian unity moderated by RCGS CEO John Geiger. (Photo: Charlie Woolf/Can Geo)

 

When Stephen Harper was Canada's Conservative prime minister in three governments; a minority and two majorities, he focused on the Canadian Arctic and the need to protect it. At that time it was primarily Russia (and China) who contested Canada's boundaries in the Canadian Arctic. Russia began the militarization of the Russian Arctic, restoring old Siberian military bases, expanding and stationing Russian military operatives there. It claims the Lomonosov Ridge gives Russia entitlement over areas of the seabed allocated to Canada and Denmark.

 

Suddenly, it appears that although Russian claims while not diminished, have been pushed back somewhat in light of the Trump administration's claims that for security purposes against the malign intentions of Russia and China make it imperative for the United States to claim Denmark's Greenland as a protectorate of the U.S., to give it sole authority over the island, while casting the same type of ownership claims over the Canadian Arctic.

 

Mr. Harper, speaking on a panel at the Royal Canadian Geographic Society described his concerns over the necessity to reinforce Canada's Northern sovereignty. At the time he could never have envisioned that a threat to Canada's sovereignty in the North would emanate from the United States. Yet, there it is: U.S. President Trump argues for greater U.S. military presence in the Arctic, and where Greenland was involved, went so far as to suggest military action to achieve his goal. That threat of expansionism is interpreted by many,  to include Canada's northern territories.

 

As sea ice recedes, routes through the North West Passage presage a new era of shipping in routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Mercantile trade worldwide will be affected, and Northern nations stand to benefit from the potential easing of maritime routes in trade opportunities, which is precisely what has lured China to stake its own claim as a 'near-Arctic' (laughable as it is) stakeholder. Russia is prepared to begin mining for the natural resources known to entice interests from natural gas to minerals.

 

A view of Canadian-owned Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, on Jan. 28, 2026. Photo by Alessandro Rampazzo/AFP via Getty Images

 

Canada now is alert to a changing world order, and Mr. Harper exhorted the need to defend the nation's land, airspace and waterways, on its own, no longer depending on its neighbour to the south to respect its territorial integrity. He had ordered Arctic icebreakers to be built for Canada. The occasion of Mr. Harper's speech was linked to the Geographical Society's honouring the former prime minister with a gold medal to celebrate his outstanding public service on the 20-year anniversary of his first of three election wins that brought him to the prime ministership.

 

A few days later another event took place on Parliament Hill, the hanging of the former prime minister's official portrait. At that event he urged political parties to recognize the need for unity at this critical time in Canada's history; to work against "external forces that threaten our independence and against domestic policies that threaten our unity. We must preserve Canada, this country handed down to us by providence, preserved by our ancestors, and held in trust for our descendants." 

"He served as prime minister of Canada for nearly a decade -- the sixth-longest tenure in our history -- leaving an extensive record of policy and legislative accomplishments."

"In a political climate increasingly buffeted by noise, he brought composure, intellect and decisiveness to public life."

Liberal Prime Minister Marc Carney 

Former prime minister Stephen Harper, right, at the unveiling of his official portrait during a ceremony in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb 3, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK/Postmedia