Arctic Council Secretariat director Mathieu Parker to step down

The director of the Arctic Council Secretariat, Mathieu Parker, is leaving the organization after five years to take up a senior government post in the Canadian Arctic, the Council announced Tuesday.

Parker, who has led the Tromsø-based Secretariat since 2021, will become deputy head and president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation, a public agency of the Government of Nunavut responsible for delivering affordable housing across the territory. He announced his departure on Friday, 19 June.

Although the Nunavut government’s announcement of the appointment took effect immediately, Parker is not due to start the new role until 21 September, a delay the Council said was intended to allow for an orderly handover.

“While I am very excited to take on this important challenge and critical portfolio for the wellbeing and prosperity of Nunavummiut, I will be extremely sad to leave the Arctic Council and the awesome team that we have built here,” Parker said, referring to the Council’s secretariats for member states and for Indigenous peoples. He described the past five years as a period the broader Arctic Council community had “been through so much together.”

That period was among the most difficult in the Council’s history. Parker’s tenure spanned the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when the seven other Arctic states paused cooperation with Moscow and much of the forum’s work ground to a halt. The Secretariat, which provides administrative and operational continuity for the Council as its chairship rotates between members, was central to keeping the institution functioning through the freeze.

Kenneth Høegh, chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, credited Parker with helping steer the body through that turbulence.

“The work of the Arctic Council Secretariat has been vital in navigating a challenging time for the Council,” Høegh said, thanking Parker for his “professional expertise and sound advice.”

Høegh said recruitment for a successor would begin shortly, in coordination with the eight Arctic states and the six Permanent Participant organizations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples.