Making the Arctic Canadian: Imagining the Arctic in Canadian Discourse

Canada has a long-standing mythos surrounding its identity as a “true” northern country. That imagined North includes the Arctic regions within Canada of Nunavut, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. This thesis examines the reification of the Arctic and Canadian North within present-day Canadian Nationalism. The sites of analysis include the speeches of current Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered on his yearly Arctic Tours between 2006 and 2014; two documents produced by his administration, The Northern Strategy and Achievements Under the Northern Strategy 2007-2011; and the published articles and images of Canadian Geographic. These sites are explored through a mixed method of discourse and content analysis