Attention to Canada's North waxes and wanes with the perceived threats du jour.  What are the security threats facing the Arctic today? Is Canada prepared to face these challenges?  This talk explores the notion of "security" in the Arctic and concludes that the military threats to the Arctic are few and that the sovereignty threats are neither constant nor aggressive.  The Canadian Forces (CF) can and will defend all of Canada, including its portion of the Arctic, from military threats.  But the challenges facing the Arctic are not of the traditional military sort: climate change, lack of sustained political and diplomatic attention and increased traffic, for example, are more pressing issues with security consequences that need to be addressed.  Furthermore, these issues fall largely outside of the CF's purview.  What then is the way forward?
 
 
Andrea Charron is the SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, and a Research Associate of the Centre for Security and Defence Studies. She recently returned from a visit to Iqaluit where she observed Canadian Forces operations. Prior to completing her PhD studies at the Royal Military College of Canada (Department of War Studies), she obtained a Masters' of Arts in International Relations from Webster University, Leiden, The Netherlands, a Master's of Public Administration from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Queen's University.  Dr. Charron was a participant of Canada's Management Trainee Programme and worked for various federal departments including Canada's Revenue Agency, Canada's Custom's Agency and the Privy Council Office (Security and Intelligence Secretariat) as a policy analyst.