Apr. 5, 2004. 09:27 AM
THE TORONTO STAR
EDITORIAL: Guarding the Arctic
Canada‘s sovereignty over Arctic waters is in danger of melting away as surely as the polar ice is succumbing to global warming. Within a decade or two, climatologists predict, the route through the Arctic archipelago could be navigable year-round.
That would create an irresistible shortcut for freighters and warships travelling between Europe and Asia. The ships could shave 7,500 kilometres and weeks off their journey by using the Northwest Passage instead of the Panama Canal.
What‘s currently an occasional passage soon could be deemed a strait connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Under the long-standing doctrine of freedom of the seas, it would be an international waterway open to any vessel, of any origin.
In fact, Russia and the United States already hold that view.
The prospect of oil tankers and leaky rustbuckets from all corners of the globe flooding through our pristine Far North is horrifying.
Despite much hand-wringing, the federal government under both Liberal and Conservative regimes has done a feeble job of asserting and safeguarding Arctic sovereignty over the decades. It never can find the money or resources needed to do the job properly.
"Our military presence in the Arctic is not exactly extensive. It virtually constitutes the largest demilitarized zone in the world," Martin Shadwick of York University‘s Centre for International Security told Parliament‘s standing defence committee last June.
In such a void, even symbolic exercises are significant. The longest one-way sovereignty patrol in Canada‘s history began last Thursday, when a 20-member team of reservist Canadian Rangers and soldiers set out by snowmobile from Resolute Bay, Nunavut, for a 1,300-km trek. They are to reach Alert, at the top of Ellesmere Island, next Monday.
Their mission is to wave the Canadian flag over the disputed waters - but no more than that.
They will steer clear of the Danish flag planted on tiny Hans Island, midway between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, a Danish territory. Canada and Denmark disagree about its ownership.
This summer, the frigate HMCS Montreal is to sail to Baffin Island for joint exercises with 200 soldiers and five helicopters. It will be the first large warship to conduct a sovereignty patrol in more than a decade. Another patrol is set for next year.
These are encouraging displays, but they are not nearly enough.
For example, the hulls of Canadian frigates and destroyers are too thin to be "ice-capable." We have only a handful of dedicated icebreakers and the military is still waiting for its new British-built submarines, which can cruise beneath the ice.
And we need to step up surveillance via satellites and overflights - technology that will cost millions.
We should tell the international community that the unique Arctic ecosystem needs the stewardship Canada can offer. Similarly, Australia was granted a custodial role for the Great Barrier Reef although it lies only partly within its waters.
Ottawa has neglected its northern border for too long. We must truly stand on guard over Canada‘s most remote regions.
