Canada flexes its muscles in scramble for the Arctic

It is not the kind of militaristic statement expected of the peace-loving Canadians. In front of a choreographed line-up of 120 sailors in their summer whites at a naval base outside Victoria in British Columbia, the prime minister, Stephen Harper, gave a warning to other nations with their eye on the potentially oil-rich Arctic.

“Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic,” he said. “We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this government intends to use it.”

In other places at other times his words could be dismissed as posturing. But he backed them up with the chequebook, announcing that he was ordering up to eight military patrol ships that would be converted for use in ice up to a metre thick, and a new deep-water port that would service them. Total bill: C$7bn (