Canada’s Northern Identity

Canadians ought to care about the radical changes occurring in the polar regions.

Geoff Green is the founder of the award-winning program “Students on Ice.” Since 1999, he has taken over 1,500 students, teachers, scientists, and experts from around the world to Antarctica and the Arctic. Geoff spoke to The Mark about the massive changes taking place, and why Canadians ought to find the will to start caring.

THE MARK: What inspired you to start bringing youth on Arctic expeditions?

GEOFF GREEN: What inspired it all was really seeing how incredible the polar regions are – how they are these cornerstones of our global ecosystem; windows to the health of the planet. Not to mention the fact that they are just beautiful places, home to huge concentrations of wildlife.

It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment, but I do remember one day standing on this beach in the Arctic surrounded by about 200,000 chinstrap penguins. And I thought, “Imagine if we could bring kids or youth to these places at the beginning of their lives – at a time when that type of experience could help define their future and change their perspectives and motivate and inspire them.” I thought, “Wouldn’t the polar regions be the greatest classroom on earth?”

For kids to be able to look into the eyes of a bowhead whale or a polar bear, and to experience the unbelievable beauty of the Arctic … I knew that would change them on a personal level and connect them, not just to nature, but to their place in this big global picture. We’ve had kids from over 44 countries on our trips. One of the most unexpected things is how it affected kids from the North.

THE MARK: What makes the polar regions so important? What drew you to these distant regions?

GREEN: My perspective on that question has evolved over time. Twenty years ago, when I first went to the Arctic, the region was still quite peripheral when it came to concerns about the degradation of the global environment. We weren’t even talking about climate change then.

What I’ve come to learn is that the state of the Arctic really reflects the state of the entire planet. Our environmental concerns have to be both global and local. The Arctic is a real platform to make people look at things globally. What is happening there is going to affect everybody, no matter where they live, and, to an extent, it already is.

Moreover, as a Canadian, the Arctic has evolved to mean a great deal to me. I think the Arctic shapes our identity as a nation and as a people more then we realize – even if we haven’t ever physically been in touch with the Arctic. We would be a different country and a different kind of people if we didn’t have this vast wilderness above us. I think it has lent to our open-mindedness and our whole spirit, even for those who live in downtown Toronto.

Canada has 30 per cent of the Arctic in its territory. We are truly one of the world’s Arctic superpowers, if you want to call us that. Another great statistic I share with youth is that 60 per cent of all the polar bears in the world live in Canada. This gives us an added responsibility to do something to protect the region.