The photos, circulated by the prime minister's office, were both a poke in the eye of the European Union, which recently banned the import of seal products, and a gesture of solidarity with Canada's Inuit, for whom the fishy-tasting meat is a staple.

ECONOMIST: The prime minister tries to marry defence and welfare

It was signed by the governments of Canada and Quebec and by Inuit representatives.

BBC: The overwhelming majority of Nunavik residents are Inuit

These changes have been particularly evident to Inuit hunters of Clyde River in Nunavut (Canada) since the 1990s.

UNESCO: Weathering uncertainty in the Arctic

But beside those arguments, both essentially political propaganda, there has been one of more weight: the notion that if Canada is divisible so too is Quebec, and that, were the province to break loose, such sceptical regions as its Cree and Inuit north, could stay part of Canada.

ECONOMIST: Canada��well, most of it��tries again