Posted on 01/26/2006 3:31:23 PM PST by AntiGuv
roger that
Fine. We can team up with Russia and close the Bering Strait. See how useful their 'Northwest Passage' is then.
You're correct. Canada may rightfully claim the region as territorial waters, but the international treaties and conventions guarantee the right of free passage. The issue is the ability to extract mineral resources.....
Canada Ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
The North West Passage has never been an International waterway for the simple reason that until recently if was impassable to shipping.
There no history at all extablishing free international passage of shipping. It's an inland staight and all the fish and mineral rights belong to Canada and the Inuit.
I agree. And it's less that we'll end up having to protect, someday.
The United States never has and never will notify Canada when it's submarines transit the Arctic Ice. Them claiming those waters does not make it so, any more than Kadafi claiming the Gulf of Sidra. It's not like we hide the fact that we are there. The Russians frequent those waters as well.
If Canada would spring for a Submarine that didn't have to surface to run it's diesel, they could check it out as well.
I doubt Canada needs to worry about the US, but the Danes may push their northern claims.
Gosh! I hope this doesn't interfere with my offer to buy Manitoba!
No, Canada may not rightfully claim the region as territorial waters. Generally accepted principals of international law do not allow them to claim any farther off of their north coast, then we claim off our east and west coasts. They are claiming a "special historical exception."
It won't fly because the world's other maritime nations aren't buying it.
It has nothing to do with Canada "not being there" The U.S. can't just send a ship out 500 miles off the coast of New York and claim it as our own and neither can Canada. They can squeal all they want, but I guarantee no matter how many armed ice breakers the Canucks spring for, we will continue treating those as the intertantional waters they are.
I was dating a girl in Canada who was a intl law student who had to research this. Two things to point out are that one, much of the arctic is 'assumed' to be Canadian Territory and not necessarily 'sovereign' territory.
Two, "International Waters" are defined as two nautical miles from the shore, and the NW Passage is wider than that.
You might want to check out a book on the law of the sea.
By the way, I've personally been at the helm of an American Submarine at the North Pole. Therefore, I claim it on behalf of the United States.
How many miles do you claim off your coasts?
Another attempt by our neighbors up north to pretend to be a country.
Don't mess with the Canadian Military! They might send the guy over to your house to threaten you with glares and scowls.
2 nautical miles
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