Prime Minister Stephen Harper has delayed his annual Arctic tour until Tuesday morning after a plane crash claimed the lives of 12 people in a small northern community, his office said on Sunday.
Harper also scrapped his plans of a two night stay in the tiny hamlet of Resolute Bay, Nunavut and will instead fly into the town for a brief visit to pay his respects to the people and families affected by the tragedy.
Three people survived when a First Air Boeing 737 crashed into a hill while trying to land at the airport at about 12:50 p.m. local time on Saturday.
After his short visit in Resolute, Harper will continue on to Baker Lake, Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Haines Junction.
Duane Froese, the Canada research chair in northern environmental change at the University of Alberta, told CTV News Channel on Sunday that the North is undergoing rapid environmental transformations, a major cause for concern.
"The North is warming at a rate faster and greater than any other part of the planet," he said. "The transformation is being felt by northerners, by the natural environment and by the communities."
He said Canadians need to be doing more to understand the impact of these changes. Froese said that having Harper visiting these communities will give the prime minister a chance to speak to people directly affected by the changes.
"People who have traditional lifestyles, who spend a lot of time on the land, are telling us about the changes in the vegetation, changes in the animal communities, the changes in the nature of the snowfall," he said.
"People who live further to the south are telling us about changes and impacts on roads and runways and airports."
This will be Harper's sixth consecutive summer visit to the Arctic.
With files from The Canadian Press
Source: http://www.ctv.ca
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