John Risley, the co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods who is backing the Arctic Economic Development Corporation.Justin Tang/The Globe and Mail
Nova Scotia billionaire John Risley says Canada has neglected the Arctic for far too long, which has undermined the country’s economic prospects and put its sovereignty at risk. He’s betting he can light a fire for change.
Mr. Risley, who made his fortune with Clearwater Seafoods before turning to investments in MDA Space and green energy, has launched a new company called Arctic Economic Development Corp. (AECD). It’s aiming to spur large-scale growth in Canada‘s North, primarily north of the 60th parallel, by marshalling a wave of new capital, private-sector expertise, and partnerships with government and Indigenous Peoples such as the Inuit.
“We haven’t really stepped up as a country” in devoting enough attention to the Arctic, Mr. Risley said in an interview this week with The Globe and Mail. Public underinvestment in the Coast Guard has left Northern waters exposed while corporate Canada “hasn’t woken up to the opportunity,” he said.
“It’s sort of hard to get to. It’s difficult to do business in. There are short windows of opportunity because of weather. And all that needs to change,” Mr. Risley said. “It’s an area, as we are learning, of strategic importance to the country. And somebody needs to be a proponent of this from the private sector and help both business and government get things done up there and done in a hurry.”
Melting ice and increasingly volatile geopolitics are changing the face of Canada‘s Arctic region, which makes up nearly 40 per cent of the country’s land mass despite being home to only 150,000 people. Both China and Russia have been increasing their naval activity in the Arctic via research ships and military patrols, prompting a warning by former NATO secretary-general Fogh Rasmussen this month that the alliance needs to take on a “stronger role” in the region.
Mr. Risley said his startup believes it can be a catalyst for Canada‘s economic expansion in the North, pulling together its connections and partnerships to forge private-sector-led investment and infrastructure development. Discussions have already begun with pension fund managers and other infrastructure players who might be interested in funding projects, he said.
The business veteran is joined by other executives in his effort. Michael McNair, an investment banker who was recently managing director at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, will lead AECD as chief executive. Sean Leet, the former CEO of World Energy GH2, a Newfoundland-based renewable energy producer, is co-founder and board director.
Mr. Risley says his startup believes it can be a catalyst for Canada’s economic expansion in the North.Justin Tang/The Globe and Mail
“Canada can’t assert its Arctic sovereignty without real infrastructure and the capacity to deliver it,” Mr. McNair said via e-mail. “What’s been missing is a private-sector one-stop shop. A team that can pull together capital, expertise and delivery for the North. That’s exactly what we’re building.”
The company is working on an early project with Qikiqtaaluk leaders in Nunavut’s Baffin region that would see Horizon Maritime, a marine services company co-owned by Mr. Risley, quarterback the procurement of polar-class icebreakers for private and public purposes. It also wants to speed up projects for things such as satellite communication service, warehouses and resource access through new transportation infrastructure.
“I’m in love with the Arctic,” Mr. Risley said. “I’ve spent quite a bit of time up there. I see it changing. And I see it as both an opportunity and a concern. We can do this the right way and we can do it the wrong way. And so I want to be part of doing it the right way.”
The Nova Scotia businessman has a track record of collaboration, particularly with Indigenous partners. After Clearwater signed a landmark agreement on surf clam harvesting with 14 First Nations in Atlantic Canada worth millions in revenue-sharing, he went further and sold the entire company to a coalition of Mi’kmaq bands and Vancouver-based Premium Brands Holdings Corp.
Nothing will happen now without the involvement of local communities, Mr. Risley said, adding that these are economic opportunities that belong to the North.
“This is not going to be an agenda run out of Toronto or Ottawa or Halifax,” he said. “They’re going to be at the boardroom table helping make decisions and deciding what gets support and what doesn’t. You can’t do things in the North in the absence of social licence, I can promise you that.”
Charles Cirtwill, president of the Northern Policy Institute based in Thunder Bay, said he’s thrilled to see private sector leadership on Northern development and Mr. Risley’s name associated with it. “He has always been very good at seeing opportunity where others see only risk,” he said.
Others pointed out that while Mr. Risley and his team might have the business chops to move the needle on Arctic development, they’re far from the only ones pushing for growth in the region.
There is already active advocacy, dialogue and work happening through the forums of Arctic360, a Canadian think tank on Arctic issues that has a majority Indigenous-led leadership team. There are also existing examples of Canadian pension fund and private sector investment in the Arctic, said Derron Bain, the CEO of Toronto-based Concert Infrastructure Ltd., an independent investor, developer, and manager of public infrastructure projects that includes the Iqaluit Airport.
“Companies such as Concert Infrastructure, Davie Shipbuilding, Agnico Eagle, alongside Arctic360, have been long engaged in the challenge and continue to work to increase and expedite private sector investment in Arctic infrastructure,” Mr. Bain said in an e-mail.
What Canada needs is a long-term vision for its Arctic accompanied by an infrastructure investment strategy and road map to realize that vision, said Jessica Shadian, Arctic360’s president and CEO. She said it’s unclear at the moment what AEDC’s aim is.
“What is known, however, is that the Arctic requires all hands on deck,” Ms. Shadian said. “We need to build collaboration and partnerships that help to strengthen and build on the good work being done if we truly hope to see a sustainable, secure, and prosperous Canadian Arctic.”
Mr. Cirtwill cautioned that this new focus on the Arctic should not come at the expense of development further south. “Canada has some significant catching up to do in the provincial north and near north,” he said. “I hope we don’t get passed over because everyone catches ‘Arctic fever.’”
The most recent concrete plan for a national-scale response to infrastructure gaps in the near North was pitched several years ago by researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and the Montreal-based CIRANO research group. The proposed Canadian Northern Corridor, endorsed in 2017 by the standing Senate committee on banking, trade and commerce, calls for a 7,000-kilometre designated right-of-way stretching across the country for roads, rail, power transmission, pipelines and communication networks that would connect to existing infrastructure in Southern Canada.