Cold Region Technology: the Future

Cold Region Technology: The Future

by Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. Planner and Engineer Originally composed in October 1999, and published in the Canadian Civil Engineer The influence of technology on the Cold Region of Canada, particularly for its residents, has been profound over the past century. Although on a geographical scale these influences seem somewhat trite or trivial given the immense size of the region, which is almost 80 percent of Canada’s land mass, which includes the northern territories and the northern reaches of many of the provinces.

On a national scale the North remains a somewhat nebulous portion of the country where on a personal level adventurers go, or foolhardy southerners find a home. The creation of Nunavut in 1999 has certainly brought a better political awareness of at least a portion of the vast region.

However, there remains a deliberate reluctance to sustain a visibility of the entire region.

A simple yet good example is the weather, where very few weather maps show all of the three territorial capitals, and favour the southern United States instead.

This visibility is changing and will change as the application of cold region technology makes resource development economically viable, and environmentally responsible. Diamonds, and natural gas are the resources of current interest in the region, and have created a “rush” that in some ways echoes the same period of a century ago.

The echo of this particular “rush” may be expected to resound for many decades, and will provide a legacy to the people of the North, which has been sadly absent from the activity of the past. This may if fact be the most significant aspect of the future of cold region technology, in that it provides a transfer of knowledge to the peoples of the North, rather than just providing a service for a fee.

Resource development remains the classic definition of extracting raw materials for ultimate consumption elsewhere. The primary elements associated with resource development in the North will be the living and working spaces for the human and machine inputs, and the infrastructure in support of these spaces. This has historically been the most neglected initial aspect of working in the North, and significant catch-up efforts have been made in the past 15 years, particularly in permanent communities.

Infrastructure is a term which applies to all of the systems that may support human activity.

Infrastructure includes water, sewer, roads, drainage, solid waste, power and communication, as well as water, air, and highway transportation systems. All of these systems take on a significant importance in a northern context because the absence or interruption in any particular item may in some cases may be a matter of life and death, as opposed to an inconvenience in a southern context.

The more traditional infrastructure of water, sewer, roads, and drainage, which may be referred to as "community infrastructure" has made, and will continue to make steady improvements in the future through the direct influence of cold region technology. These improvements will create the proverbial "level playing field" for permanent communities, but in a northern context, and through the application of appropriate technology.

These community infrastructure components are taken for granted in the southern context, but in the North the use of buckets for hauling fresh water, and plastic bags for sewage are still a recent memory for many residents, particularly those living in smaller communities. The most important benefit associated with the availability of pressurized water systems has been improved public health, through increased water use.

Key principles in the future of cold region technology are "northern context", "appropriate technology" and “incremental improvement�. The capital costs and sustainability for infrastructure systems becomes prohibitive if these principles are not applied in each and every step of the design and implementation process.

Many lessons have been learned, and at great expense through the incorrect or incomplete application of these principles in the past. Unfortunately the memory of past lessons has suffered from a lapse in the North, and therefore the future of cold region technology will include a sustained, and accessible technical knowledge base maintained outside of individuals or corporations.

This will not diminish the need for technical practitioners of cold region technology, but rather enhance the application of the technology. This activity is currently in its infancy through the magic of the internet.

Although community infrastructure has made important strides, and will continue to make important strides through the application of cold region technology, it is communication and air, water, and highway transportation systems that will dominate the activity in the future. The importance of transportation systems for the future has already been recognized by the Department of Transportation of the Government of the Northwest Territory, which spent $2 million in 1998 and 1999 on highway feasibility related studies for access throughout the Northwest Territory, and into the Nunavut Territory.

The costs associated with northern highways are staggering in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the economists suggest that the level of activity in the north is not sufficient to support these projects within the next decade. Although these economic recommendations are a valuable tool in decision making, outside factors such as the demand for oil and gas may make these recommendations completely irrelevant in the coming years.

Air transportation is the only year round system available to much of the North. Scheduled air service is now available to all communities in the north, although this service still remains at the mercy of the northern weather. Considering that jet service to some of the larger centres of the North did not become a common occurrence until the early 1990’s, the current state of the service is a significant step forward.

Air service in the future may not see the profound changes as it has in the past. The costs of providing jet service to each and every community are prohibitive with regard to capital costs and operating costs.

Marine transportation is a seasonal operation and the "life blood" for major community activity, and construction of large projects in many places. Marine transportation, like air transportation, may not

see profound changes in the future as a result of technology, but may see changes as the result of changes in the natural environment. The restricting ice pack of the North has undergone tremendous change in the past 50 years, and in some documented cases is now half of the thickness it was 50 years ago. Whether the cause of this is climate change, or some other natural phenomenon, the potential impacts on the operating season of marine transportation in the North will be significant in the future.

Communications systems will have the most significant impact on cold region technology in the future. Satellite communication has essentially removed the isolation of most communities. The future application of this communication will facilitate communication amongst other cold region practitioners, technology users, and residents on a global scale.

The environment will take on a renewed importance in the future of cold region engineering. A renewal is the correct phrase to apply since the aboriginals of the North have sustained themselves for centuries using "traditional environmental knowledge" (TEK). Elements of this TEK are now being sought and applied to new resource developments. The sensitivity of the northern environment in combination with the application of appropriate technology will hasten this renewal and redefinition of TEK. The influence of climate change in relation to the environment will also play a significant role in the future of cold region technology. Design standards for a number of projects are already in a period of change taking into consideration the potential long term warming of the North, and the environmental risk associated with the projects.

The aboriginals of the North have sustained themselves for centuries using "traditional technical knowledge", the most commonly known of these technologies being the kayak and the igloo.

Although by standard western definitions these technologies may be considered rather simple, they are in fact appropriate technology for transportation and community dwellings, and suggest an impressive potential for ingenuity.

The base of practitioners of cold region technology in the future will shift from the non-aboriginal community to the aboriginal community. This transition is in its early stages as evident with the aboriginal partnerships that have already formed with non-aboriginal technical corporations. Much of this has been politically motivated, however some of it has evolved out of the recognition that it makes good business sense for the future. Those companies that choose to maintain the colonial approach to business in the North are inevitably doomed to failure in the future.

The road to establishing a large base of aboriginal cold region technology practitioners will be long.

This suggestion is a simple function of the competition for individuals and the cross cultural limitations of cold region technology. Modern technology is still being defined within the aboriginal context, particularly within its language development.

The future of cold region technology will be an exciting opportunity for the people of the North, and for the people of the south who have the patience and willingness to operate in this evolving frontier.