In his fifth trip to Alaska as Canadian Consulate General of Seattle, James K. Hill chose to visit Unalaska. He’s halfway through a three-year assignment where he covers Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. As next-door neighbors, Hill thinks Alaska and Canada should have greater economic synergy.
“We’re not Alaska’s first trading partner and not even their second or third," Hill said. "We’re their fourth, so there’s a lot of room to grow.”
But Unalaska’s economy is based on fishing and the fishing markets are not based in Canada.
“It’s natural that Unalaska may not be Canada’s premier choice," Hill said. "But that said, if you follow the news, you will realize that Canadian business interests have just purchased Icicle [Seafoods] so we have a direct foreign interest in the community here.”
He says a natural link for Canada and U.S. Relations is the Arctic -- because both countries are arctic nations.
“If you ask anybody in Canada -- where they are -- if they view themselves as an arctic nation they will say yes," Hill said. "It’s part of Canadian identity regardless of where they live. If you ask that same question on the other side of the border from where I grew up -- which is 100 km away in North Dakota. I don’t think many people would say, ‘Yes, we’re an arctic nation.’ Yet the distance is very small.”
Canadian's arctic identity has evolved over the past generation. But in the lower 48, that evolution has not happened yet.
“I see a small but perceivable disconnect between how Alaska views its north and how the federal government views the north," Hill said. "In terms of common vision, it’s more Canada-Alaska relations or Canada-Alaska vision.”
Next month, Hill will be returning to Alaska to visit Nome and Kotzebue and he’ll meet with Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallot about transbounda
