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‘Use it or lose it’ — Harper’s Arctic strategy more than just a political gambit
National Post ^ | August 24, 2014 | Michael Den Tandt

Posted on 08/24/2014 6:08:16 PM PDT by Squawk 8888

CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut — Of all the sovereignty-boosting, patriotism-inducing, national myth-building projects this prime minister has taken on over the past eight years — and there have been a few of them now — Stephen Harper’s quixotic quest to find the lost ships of the doomed 19th-century English explorer John Franklin may appear the most vainglorious. The same applies, at first glance, to the Conservatives’ entire Arctic strategy.

Canada, a northern power to rival newly aggressive Russia? Pshaw. Canada, asserting property rights over a body of water, the Northwest Passage, that even the United States politely insists is international? Silly. And yet, it isn’t. It’s actually quite clever — and possibly, good for the country to boot.

Friday, in Fort Smith, in the Northwest Territories, the PM went as far as he has yet in asserting that he deems Vladimir Putin’s Russia to be a strategic threat to Canada in the Arctic.

On the face of it, that would appear to be political lunacy, or at least politically risky. As a military power, and as an Arctic power, Canada is nowhere close to being in Russia’s league. Under Putin, the country the largest land mass in the world has made aggressive moves to reconstitute its former power in the north. It is re-commissioning old bases, rushing onward with development, and building what will be the world’s largest icebreaker.

By comparison, Saturday in Cambridge Bay, Harper personally broke ground, with a hand shovel, on a research station that was originally promised in 2007. Construction is “the final stage” of the process, the PM asserted. He promised completion by July 1, 2017. A community elder prayed over the site, which is a dusty, empty lot. Given the time it has taken to get this far, prayers may come in handy.

(Excerpt) Read more at fullcomment.nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/24/2014 6:08:16 PM PDT by Squawk 8888
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To: Clive; exg; Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; Cannoneer No. 4; ...
To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.

Canada Ping!

2 posted on 08/24/2014 6:09:05 PM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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To: Squawk 8888

“A community elder prayed over the site”

Tsk. Isn’t that illegal in Canada, now, eh?


3 posted on 08/24/2014 6:13:22 PM PDT by dynachrome (Vertrou in God en die Mauser)
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To: dynachrome

Nope. Our Constitution recognizes “the Supremacy of God” :)


4 posted on 08/24/2014 6:16:16 PM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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To: Squawk 8888

That is an impressive paint job.

Is it real?


5 posted on 08/24/2014 6:30:29 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: Squawk 8888

Good!


6 posted on 08/24/2014 6:31:57 PM PDT by dynachrome (Vertrou in God en die Mauser)
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To: yarddog

I believe it is real, used for airshow appearances.


7 posted on 08/24/2014 6:36:04 PM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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8 posted on 08/24/2014 6:41:00 PM PDT by RedMDer (May we always be happy and may our enemies always know it. - Sarah Palin, 10-18-2010)
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To: Squawk 8888

OK, sort of like the wild paint jobs on the Thunderbirds.


9 posted on 08/24/2014 6:42:26 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: Squawk 8888

Hats off to Stephen Harper — undisputed leader of the free world.


10 posted on 08/24/2014 9:03:32 PM PDT by garjog (Obama: bringing joy to the hearts of Terrorists everywhere.)
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To: Squawk 8888

A Canadian journalist and paper which ridicules Canada’s claims on the artic and argues in favor of Russia’s claims?

Just remember per former KGB officers living in the US that there are over 30,000 -active- ciphher books in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad


11 posted on 08/25/2014 3:53:53 AM PDT by Justa
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To: Justa; Squawk 8888
"A Canadian journalist and paper which ridicules Canada's claims on the arctic in favor of Russia's claims?"

The US ridicules both Canada's and Russia's claims as well as Denmark's(Greenland)

George Bush even disputed Canada's claim to the Northwest passage.

All three nations claim that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of their shelf and under LOST they can claim it as their shelf and it becomes part of their Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ). The ridge extends from close to the Canada- Greenland border over the pole to close to Russia. And the claim would include 200 nautical miles on both sides of the ridge.

The US says that is international water under the authority of UNCLOS.

The problem is, that the US has never ratified LOST, so the US doesn't have the ability to dispute the claims within UNCLOS.

Same way with Britain(Falklands), Argentina, and Chile making claims in the Antarctic and China making claims in the South China Sea.

12 posted on 08/25/2014 7:03:29 AM PDT by Ben Ficklin
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