Posted on 01/26/2006 3:31:23 PM PST by AntiGuv
TORONTO - Canada's next prime minister used his first news conference Thursday to tell the United States to mind its own business when it comes to territorial rights in the Arctic North.
Testing the notion that he would kowtow to the Bush administration, Stephen Harper, whose Conservative Party won general elections on Monday, said he would stand by a campaign pledge to increase Canada's military presence in the Arctic and put three military icebreakers in the frigid waters of the Northwest Passage.
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins had criticized the plan Wednesday, describing the Arctic passage as "neutral waters."
"There's no reason to create a problem that doesn't exist," Wilkins said during a panel discussion at the University of Western Ontario, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "We don't recognize Canada's claims to those waters. Most other countries do not recognize their claim."
No reporter brought up the U.S. ambassador's views Thursday, but Harper said he wanted to comment on them.
"The United States defends its sovereignty; the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty," Harper said. "It is the Canadian people that we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the United States."
Harper's surprising salvo was likely intended as a message to those in the Bush administration who might be cheering the election of a Conservative government and view Harper as a pushover when it comes to prickly U.S.-Canadian relations.
Arctic sovereignty has been a sensitive subject for decades, with U.S. Navy submarines and ships entering northern waters without asking permission. Ottawa has generally turned a blind eye to the United States' sending ships through the area.
Canadian media reported last month that a U.S. nuclear submarine traveled secretly through Canadian Arctic waters in November on its way to the North Pole.
The Northwest Passage runs from the Atlantic through the Arctic to the Pacific.
Global warming is melting the passage — which is only navigable during a slim window in the summer — and exposing unexplored fishing stocks and an attractive shipping route. Commercial ships can shave off some 2,480 miles from the trip from Europe to Asia compared with the current routes through the Panama Canal.
Harper said during a campaign speech in December he would dramatically increase Canada's military presence in the Arctic North. He intends to construct and deploy three new armed icebreaking ships and construct a $1.7 billion deep-water port and an underwater network of "listening posts."
"The single most important duty of the federal government is to protect and defend our national sovereignty," Harper said in the December speech. "There are new and disturbing reports of American nuclear submarines passing though Canadian waters without obtaining the permission of, or even notifying, the Canadian government."
Harper has not said whether he would order military action if the ships or port detected an unauthorized submarine in Arctic waters.
Harper, meanwhile, said he had a friendly conversation with President Bush on Wednesday but had not fixed a date for their first meeting. He said he had also received calls from other major allies, including Mexican President Vicente Fox, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
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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