German president wraps up visit to Canada in N.W.T.

Germany's president is visiting the Northwest Territories for the final leg of his four-day official visit to Canada.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Budenbender, were welcomed at the Yellowknife airport Wednesday morning by N.W.T. Commissioner Margaret Thom, Deputy Mayor Stacie Smith and Yellowknives Dene First Nation Chief of Ndilǫ Fred Sangris, among other dignitaries.

Steinmeier then joined Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at the Canadian military's Joint Task Force North headquarters for a tour and briefing with senior officials. Outside, federal government employees formed a picket line as part of a countrywide strike involving more than 150,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada workers.

Steinmeier and Simon headed further north Wednesday to the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to meet with Indigenous leaders and members of the community.

While in Tuktoyaktuk, they planned to visit the shore of the Arctic Ocean to learn about the effects of climate change and view homes that were relocated due to coastal erosion. They were also set to visit a traditional sod house, known as igluryuaq in Inuvialuktuk, built with sawed drift logs covered with sod clumps for insulation, as well as an ice house that was dug in the permafrost in 1963 that is used to store meat and fish.

Steinmeier and Simon were then scheduled to attend a presentation on the Smart Ice Project, which combines traditional knowledge with modern technology to monitor ice, as well as dog sledding and ice fishing demonstrations. They planned to end their time in Tuktoyaktuk by attending a community event at Kitti Hall before returning to Yellowknife via Inuvik.

Security and defence partner

The House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence recently released a report on Arctic security and sovereignty with 26 recommendations for the federal government. Those included fast-tracking recruitment of members of the Canadian Armed Forces, tabling timelines to enhance forwarding operating locations in the Arctic, and collaborating with territorial and Indigenous governments to ensure military infrastructure includes dual-use benefits.

Germany and Canada co-operate on security and defence issues as long-standing partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and are both members of the G7 and G20, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization. 

The German-Canadian High Level Steering Group on Bilateral Cooperation was established in 2021 to strengthen relations between the countries. It brings together senior officials from the Canadian and German governments to strengthen co-operation on areas including peace and security, climate change, energy and natural resources, and innovation, digitalization and the economy.

In March and May 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to work together to advance the adoption and expansion of carbon pricing and both countries signed onto the G7 Hydrogen Action Pact.

Steinmeier arrived Sunday in Ottawa, where he attended events including a reception held by the German ambassador during which he spoke about the importance of liberal democracies. 

On Tuesday, he was in Burnaby, B.C., and Vancouver, where he toured fuel cell company Cellcentric and attended a roundtable discussion with German and Canadian business representatives.

Steinmeier is to depart Yellowknife for Germany on Wednesday evening.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Canadian Press News Fellowship and Meta, which is not involved in the editorial process.