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OTTAWA — In its first major statement on the Arctic, the Trudeau government has moved away the more-confrontational approach that dominated Conservative policy, with Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion putting Russia at the centre of Canada’s northern policy.

A rapprochement between the two countries is expected on the northern front, despite concerns over Russian actions in the Middle East and Ukraine, not to mention friction over the North Pole.

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Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Dion’s parliamentary secretary, outlined the new approach at a Carleton University/Centre for International Governance Innovation event Thursday.

“Between us we control three-quarters of the north,” she said in a speech written by Dion. Canada “wishes to be rational,” so working with Russia in the Arctic is “eminently sensible.”

CIGI fellow John Higginbotham, who helped organize the event, said he was pleased and surprised by the statement.