Grand Arctic promises

…The decisions are not in fact made by international bodies, since the body in question — the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf — will not make recommendations concerning areas subject to overlapping claims. All the Commission does is assess the scientific evidence advanced in support of uncontested claims, with any coastal country being entitled to sovereign rights over any “natural prolongation” of its continental shelf. Overlapping claims need to be resolved by negotiation, now, before the stakes are raised by more melting ice and peak oil. Unfortunately, the Canadian government has failed miserably on the diplomatic front, making false accusations of law-breaking against Russia with respect to a flag-plant at the North Pole (which is located on the “high seas”) and bomber flights (which stayed well within international airspace). With President Barack Obama “pushing the reset button” on U.S.-Russian relations, it’s time for Canada to get with the program. It’s time for us to actively seek and support international cooperation across the circumpolar North.

AJ: Canada may have diminished their claims to the North as a result of allowing Arctic waters to be used by foreign submarines, knowingly. How has Canada erred strategically in asserting its claims to the Arctic?

MB: Submarines are the main reason why the United States insists the Northwest Passage is an “international strait” open to foreign vessels without constraint. In an international strait, submarines may sail submerged and are not required to notify the coastal state. Under Canada’s position, which is that the Northwest Passage constitutes internal waters, submarines would have to sail on the surface and have our explicit permission.

As a NATO partner of the United States, Canada may well have knowledge of submarine voyages through the Northwest Passage. This might actually constitute a problem for us, since if we know, and our permission has not been sought and given, the voyages would constitute precedents in favour of the U.S. position.

However, Canada’s greatest strategic failure has been the lack of significant investment in Coast Guard icebreakers, navigation aids and charts, civilian ports, and world-class search-and-rescue. For if other countries saw Canada taking the necessary steps to make the Northwest Passage a safe and efficient shipping route, available to responsible shipping companies from around the world, they would become much more amenable to our legal claims.

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