Defending Canadian Arctic Sovereignty

[Baz]

I should have disclosed.  Even though my degree is a BSc Comp Sci, I had the pleasure (and I mean it, they were interesting courses) of taking a couple of third year Poli Sci courses at Dal in the 1990s.  One was (sic) Maritime Strategy and one was (sic) United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  I was old enough at the time, and had already been an MH Crew commander, to recognize their worth.  They gave my a better grounding in these issues then anything I was ever taught in the military.  The only reason the department of Poli Sci allowed me to take them (without the normal 2nd year Poli Sci pre-requisites) was because of my military experience; we also had at least one MARS officer as well.

Interestingly, they both had two professors in the seminars (they didn't really do lectures); one was the actual professor, but one was an older lady who just provided wisdom.  Although I forget her name, she was in some way part of the Canadian negotiation team for UNCLOS.  Gives one a completely different insight...

One of the most interesting things we did was full weekend seminar (and nobody complained).  Each person was given a different role in either the Government of a fictitious island nation (ie "President", Minister of Defense, Minister of Economy, Chief of Defense, etc) or another stake holder organization (CEOs of oil companies, neighboring nations, etc).  We then held rounds of negotiations over some of the pressing maritime issues of that nation (offshore exploration, how much to spend on the Navy, etc).  It certainly made a much better learning environment then the EOs and POs of a standard military course!

Anyway, that is where my grounding in this stuff comes from; it's enough of a grounding that it's pretty easy to find the relative factual information on the internet.  Too bad more journalism majors didn't take these types of courses...


Rant on: why is it that BSc students have to take a sprinkling of liberal arts courses (which is a good thing!), but BAs and MBAs don't have to take any science courses.  Maybe if more people had a first year university level understanding of the scientific method than there would be so many BS opinions floating around???

 

[McG]

Is the closing of Canada's only mainland deep-water arctic port a sovereignty issue?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-port-analysis-1.3696199

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Meh. People in Manitoba wanted to dictate what could/could not be shipped from Churchill. Oil was verboten.

Life is a bitch when actual economics hit you in the face.

 

[Kirkhill]

No different than Vancouver.

Vancouver has been "cleaning up the waterfront" for decades.  In the process they have driven industry away from the water - the very things that justified building a port in the first place and that attracted people to live there.

Now the grandkids of the stevedores live in condos in converted warehouses, complain about the odours from the remaining working facilities like West Coast Reduction and demand that their sight lines be improved.

Gloucester, Massachusetts is another example among many.  A working fishing port it attracted rich city types looking for a summer retreat in a quaint setting.  Eventually they priced and legislated the industry out of existence.

 

[Good2Golf]

Is the closing of Canada's only mainland deep-water arctic port a sovereignty issue?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-port-analysis-1.3696199

Meh...

It wasn't in 1997 when Chretien sold it to the Americans.  I'm assuming that under Trudeau Jr., it won't be an issue either.

#pragmaticrealism

Regards
G2G

 

[Lightguns]

Meh...

It wasn't in 1997 when Chretien sold it to the Americans.  I'm assuming that under Trudeau Jr., it won't be an issue either.

#pragmaticrealism

Regards
G2G

All depends on whether the minister for the Inuit and the North is out of rehab yet or not. 

 

[jmt18325]

All depends on whether the minister for the Inuit and the North is out of rehab yet or not.

He is - and no longer welcome in the Liberal party.  There's obviously more to that story.

 

[The Bread Guy]

All depends on whether the minister for the Inuit and the North is out of rehab yet or not.

And that relates, specifically, how to the argument of keeping or closing Churchill?  Or anything, really, other than a great dig at someone's addiction and treatment?  Great add to the discussion  :

 

[Lightguns]

Churchill is an important port for development of the North and in an NDP riding. To be considered in cabinet someone in cabinet is going to have to stick handle it, the obvious individual who constituents have a large stake has incapacitated himself and put the issue at risk for his constituents. That how it adds to the discussion.

Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk

 

[The Bread Guy]

Churchill is an important port for development of the North and in an NDP riding. To be considered in cabinet someone in cabinet is going to have to stick handle it, the obvious individual who constituents have a large stake has incapacitated himself and put the issue at risk for his constituents. That how it adds to the discussion.

And that sounds like FAR less of a cheap shot -- it's hard to read context in print.  Well rephrased - thanks.

 

[CougarKing]

Byers weighs in again:

CBC

Trudeau ends Harper's tradition of attending Arctic military exercise
Operation Nanook is viewed as the most important for asserting Canadian sovereignty

By Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press Posted: Aug 29, 2016 8:53 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 29, 2016 1:07 PM ET

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is flying to China on Monday, adding to the long list of countries he has visited since winning last year's federal election. Yet there's one place closer to home that Trudeau hasn't set foot in since forming a government: Canada's Far North.

Officials maintain that despite the lack of a prime ministerial visit, the Arctic remains one of the government's top priorities. But opposition critics and experts say the Liberals have been noticeably absent in a number of ways when it comes to Canada's northern reaches.

The Canadian Forces launched its annual Arctic exercise, Operation Nanook, last week. In this year's iteration, hundreds of soldiers are helping respond to a simulated earthquake in the Yukon while hundreds more scour Nunavut with the help of ships and aircraft to retrieve a lost object.

(...SNIPPED)

Byers, who ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in 2008, said the government has also been largely silent on the potential environmental concerns associated with the Crystal Serenity, a luxury liner that is attempting to traverse the Northwest Passage this summer, or Russia dumping spent booster rockets into Baffin Bay.

"What we have seen is a silence on some fairly significant developments which previous prime ministers would have commented on," Byers said. "The approach seems to be that the Arctic is not a priority."

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Byers actually giving Harper (He who must not be named in Byers world) a sideswiping compliment. Wonders never cease! 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Byers actually giving Harper (He who must not be named in Byers world) a sideswiping compliment. Wonders never cease!

To be fair, Byers (who does have fans and haters) IS big on doing things in the Arctic.  Now, what things when & how?  Let the debate begin  ;D

 

[ModlrMike]

"The approach seems to be that the Arctic is not a priority."

That may change when Putin sends his ships through the NW Passage uninvited.

Vladimir Putin, Justin Trudeau, and Canada’s Arctic problem

All of Moscow’s effort and attention, combined with Canada’s neglect, has effectively turned the Arctic Ocean into Putin’s Lake.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

To be fair, Byers (who does have fans and haters) IS big on doing things in the Arctic.  Now, what things when & how?  Let the debate begin  ;D

Yes, I just enjoying the irony of his discomfort..... [

 

[The Bread Guy]

Yes, I just enjoying the irony of his discomfort..... [

A touch of squirm?  Yup!

 

[dapaterson]

The Guardian reports that HMS Terror has been found.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt

 

[Journeyman]

The Guardian reports that HMS Terror has been found.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt

Thank you, British media.

 

[Good2Golf]

Earlier in the day, CBC Newsnet was noting they had also found HMCS Terror...  :

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The CBC article is absolute crap, barely readable, meanwhile the Guardian provide full details, maps and images.....It's not often I feel the need to praise the Guardian, but CBC utterly failed us.