Arctic Sovereignty
Well, it's always been ours, the True North - strong, free and Canadian. Now the vast stretches of Arctic Ocean seabed along Canada's far northern coastline is wavering; is it ours, or is it not? As the vast icebound reaches begin to relent under what is now considered to be relentlessly inevitable global warming, opportunities begin to open on the near horizon for year-round shipping, shortening the length of time it now takes to circumvent the ice-bound North.
American submariners know something about that area. Canadian authorities know that the United States would like to challenge Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic, to claim it for their own, or at best, making it semi-autonomous, or even recognizing and opening it up as an international waterway. Canada thinks otherwise. What was hers, part of her indivisible geography, shall remain hers.
The lands and waters of the Canadian Arctic happen to be a historical and geographical fact, well-established and long accepted. Now Russian scientists chime in, claiming to have brought forward fresh new evidence supporting their own country's claim to about 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic seafloor.
Why on earth is everyone suddenly so interested in the great frozen North? Ah, the holy grail of oil deposits, the vast mineral resources that reside on the seafloor's geology, hitherto unapproachable. But as modern science devises new methods of exploration, dredging and excavation, allied with the melting sea ice, anything and everything is possible.
Canada is in the process of building up its options to improve surveillance and response capabilities. Aha! Are we prepared to become a belligerent in this steady and stealthy international interest in absorbing territory that Canada once felt confident the world ceded to her? We do have an indelible, long-standing presence in the North.
We have loyal Inuit, who know the frozen North as none others are capable of doing. These stalwart Canadians are of the land that daunts others, and compels the adventurous to explore and often give up their lives in the doing of it. These First Nations Rangers that Canada proudly employs to patrol and ensure our sovereignty love their native land as none others can comprehend.
Here, however, is Russia claiming that the Lomonosove Ridge, an undersea mountain range, juts out from the Russian mainland across the Arctic Ocean seabed between Canada's Ellesmere Island, and Siberia. Should they meet success in proving that the submarine mountain ridges are an extension of the Eurasian continental shelf, they will challenge Canada's long reach into Arctic waters.
Canada already is in the process of bargaining with tiny Denmark, which itself claims authority over Greenland, for the intention of proving the ridge to be an extension of the North American continent. Under UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, a country can legally secure rights to seabed territory reaching beyond the 200-mile limit if it can prove that a portion of the ocean floor is geologically part of its continental shelf.
Russia's 1997 submission of a claim to UNCLOS was rejected on the basis of its scientific unsubstantiation, a situation which galvanized Russia into further seabed surveys and allied research in a serious effort to support their rejected claim. The current triumphant claim of an extended Eurasian shelf must still be substantiated and given full scientific credence, by UNCLOS.
Norway too is interested in placing claims for stretches of the Arctic seabed, along with the U.S., enlarging on its coastline in Alaska. All of these countries are interested in the potential of unknown but anticipated resources below the seabed. All are vitally engaged in ensuring recognition of their authority over marine boundaries for that very purpose.
There's money to be made in them thar (undersea) hills.
American submariners know something about that area. Canadian authorities know that the United States would like to challenge Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic, to claim it for their own, or at best, making it semi-autonomous, or even recognizing and opening it up as an international waterway. Canada thinks otherwise. What was hers, part of her indivisible geography, shall remain hers.
The lands and waters of the Canadian Arctic happen to be a historical and geographical fact, well-established and long accepted. Now Russian scientists chime in, claiming to have brought forward fresh new evidence supporting their own country's claim to about 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic seafloor.
Why on earth is everyone suddenly so interested in the great frozen North? Ah, the holy grail of oil deposits, the vast mineral resources that reside on the seafloor's geology, hitherto unapproachable. But as modern science devises new methods of exploration, dredging and excavation, allied with the melting sea ice, anything and everything is possible.
Canada is in the process of building up its options to improve surveillance and response capabilities. Aha! Are we prepared to become a belligerent in this steady and stealthy international interest in absorbing territory that Canada once felt confident the world ceded to her? We do have an indelible, long-standing presence in the North.
We have loyal Inuit, who know the frozen North as none others are capable of doing. These stalwart Canadians are of the land that daunts others, and compels the adventurous to explore and often give up their lives in the doing of it. These First Nations Rangers that Canada proudly employs to patrol and ensure our sovereignty love their native land as none others can comprehend.
Here, however, is Russia claiming that the Lomonosove Ridge, an undersea mountain range, juts out from the Russian mainland across the Arctic Ocean seabed between Canada's Ellesmere Island, and Siberia. Should they meet success in proving that the submarine mountain ridges are an extension of the Eurasian continental shelf, they will challenge Canada's long reach into Arctic waters.
Canada already is in the process of bargaining with tiny Denmark, which itself claims authority over Greenland, for the intention of proving the ridge to be an extension of the North American continent. Under UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, a country can legally secure rights to seabed territory reaching beyond the 200-mile limit if it can prove that a portion of the ocean floor is geologically part of its continental shelf.
Russia's 1997 submission of a claim to UNCLOS was rejected on the basis of its scientific unsubstantiation, a situation which galvanized Russia into further seabed surveys and allied research in a serious effort to support their rejected claim. The current triumphant claim of an extended Eurasian shelf must still be substantiated and given full scientific credence, by UNCLOS.
Norway too is interested in placing claims for stretches of the Arctic seabed, along with the U.S., enlarging on its coastline in Alaska. All of these countries are interested in the potential of unknown but anticipated resources below the seabed. All are vitally engaged in ensuring recognition of their authority over marine boundaries for that very purpose.
There's money to be made in them thar (undersea) hills.
Labels: Crisis Politics, Government of Canada
posted by Pieface | 5:22 PM
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