YELLOWKNIFE - Prime Minister Stephen Harper waved the Conservative flag in the North on Monday to the howl of sled dogs, the applause of business people and the smiles of young athletes at the Arctic Winter Games.
An hour after driving a dog-sled team solo across the frozen ice of Yellowknife's Back Bay, Harper told business leaders that his government wants to spur development in the region and asked people for their political support.
"There are some here who retain an older, anti-development view of the North. Our government does not share that,'' Harper said to applause.
"Our government believes in northern economic development now and in the future. The Great White North is as much a part of Canada's identity as the red Maple Leaf.''
The Western Arctic riding, which includes Yellowknife, is held by the NDP. The Liberals hold Nunavut and the Yukon.
Harper used his speech to try to sell his new budget, which includes funding for a new polar icebreaker, a plan to map the Arctic seabed and a proposed commercial harbour in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.
There are also better tax breaks for northern residents and tax credits for mining exploration.
Ottawa's efforts to more forcefully exert Canada's sovereignty in the North also won the prime minister a round of applause.
"We are passionately committed to protecting and defending our sovereignty,'' he said.
N.W.T. Premier Floyd Roland has said he wants to work closely with Harper and would like to see more federal investment in infrastructure projects to improve the economy.
"We need some critical investment of infrastructure that would help us to continue to develop, not only to keep communities sustainable, but to help with further economic development potentials we have in the North,'' Roland said in an interview.
"The type of national infrastructure would be ones like the Mackenzie Valley Highway.''
During Harper's speech, a lone man shivered outside in the wind's chill as he handed out leaflets outlining Conservative program cuts to women's and multicultural programs. The leaflets included a warning: "What would Stephen Harper do with a majority?''
During his short visit, Harper helped open the 2008 Arctic Games by welcoming more than 2,200 athletes from circumpolar countries.
He told participants at the opening ceremonies that their spirit speaks to the limitless potential of the North and the promise of a bright future.
On Monday, he met with members from Canadian dog-mushing teams. He shook hands, posed for photographs and at one point squatted on the ice to autograph a dog sled.
The week-long event features athletes from northern Canada and other countries with Arctic regions such as the United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark (Greenland).
Canada is fielding teams from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern Quebec and northern Alberta.
Besides dog-sledding, events include cross-country skiing, curling, speed skating and traditional aboriginal games such as the stick-pull and the high-kick.
Also on Monday, the federal government was expected to announce $2.3 million over three years to bolster aboriginal involvement in sports in the three territories.
