Arctic Dispute

On most occasions I do not like nor agree with what Stephen Harper does, I find him to be hypocritical and just as bad as the Liberals he replaced, but there is something I commend him on. His effort to assert Canada's control over our arctic region.

As the ice melts because of global warming, in the coming decades the Northwest Passage will become a major shipping lane for the Northern Hemisphere. This is a bonanza for Canada but not without its disputes.

Many countries, notably the United States state that the Northwest Passage is not Canadian waters but International Waters and therefore, a country does not have to ask for permission to enter it. This is proven by the US putting submarines through the passage on a yearly basis without asking Canada's permission.

Along with the passage, there is the diamond mines, and suspected vast oil reserves that are believed to be in the arctic. Some have speculated there may be more oil there than in the Middle East. This is another cash cow for Canada but again, not without disputes. The United States and Russia both claim portions of the waters because of continental shelves extending from their territory, it does not matter to them that our actual land extends all the way up there, not the land under the water.

So to show countries like Finland, Russia, USA, and Denmark, that in fact the north belongs to us, the Arctic rangers completed a 2500 km trip around the arctic to show that we in fact do have a presence on those islands. It was only 50 people but it was a message to the rest of the world that we own these islands and the waters around them.

This is a good start but not nearly enough. We need ships up there patrolling constantly, large groups of rangers moving around the islands, and most importantly a message to the world to say that The Arctic belongs to Canada. It may not be a big deal to many people right now, but trust me, in the coming decades and in our lifetime it will become a major issue for our future governments. As the ice melts, Canada has the chance to either raise our world profile significantly with our passage and vast oil reserves in the north, or to become merely an onlooker as our north is carved up by other hungry countries.

Renegade Out.