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| Great White North | ||
| Canada flexes its muscles in scramble for the Arctic | ||
| 2007-07-11 | ||
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."
Mr Harper's message, and the belligerent style in which it was delivered, are a sign that the Arctic, the vast ice-covered ocean around the North Pole, is hotting up - both literally, through global warming, and metaphorically as a political issue. With Canada, Denmark, Russia and the United States all having claims on the region, together with those of Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, international tension in the region is mounting.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 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 (£3.3bn). As long as the Canucks don't deploy their subs, no one should get hurt. |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-07-11 21:24 |
| #14 Due to non-existent global warming, the NW passage is actually opening up, and may be a valuable shipping route. Really? For how much of the year? Can you name the first ship to take the NW passage? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-07-11 20:40 |
| #13 I wonder what the Arab League's "Plan B" is? Dinner? Lunch? Both? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-11 14:19 |
| #12 I wonder what the Arab League's "Plan B" is? I predict much seething. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-07-11 14:18 |
| #11 A. the problem with slicing it up like a pie, is that doesnt work for shipping. Due to non-existent global warming, the NW passage is actually opening up, and may be a valuable shipping route. The US, Europe, and Japan all have substantial interests in that route being international waters, while the Canadians want to claim sovereignty over it. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-07-11 13:09 |
| #10 NO Arctic polar bear blood for oil! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-07-11 11:04 |
| #9 #7 -- I'll think we'll be back to using nuclear-generated carbohydrates just like our ancestors did. I grow mine in my garden. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-07-11 11:03 |
| #8 May I suggest slicing up the Arctic like a pie, with countries getting slices equal to their northern boundaries on the outter edge, and tapored to meet at the center point. Russia wound no doubt get the largest slice, followed by Canada, the US, Denmark, and so on. Since the US will never drill in it's pie slice, perhaps we can trade it to another country for land, i.e. Give permanent drilling rights to Mexico for Baha California. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-07-11 10:53 |
| #7 We'll not likely discover the next oil field, we'll probably patent it. Several millenia of "alchemy" will disappear with a few bio- or molecular-engineering process patents, and we'll be making oil out of rearranged carbon atoms, say, from dirt. That, or nuclear generated hydrogen. I wonder what the Arab League's "Plan B" is? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Nanotech Oil Manufacturing Division 2007-07-11 10:47 |
| #6 I'll stop believing in Peak Oil when a replacement for the super giant Ghawar field is discovered somewhere. Ain't gonna happen. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-07-11 10:38 |
| #5 This is rubbish i keep getting told that peak oil is here NOW. /moonbat |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-07-11 10:12 |
| #4 It will take mukluks on the ground to hold the Arctic regions. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-07-11 09:36 |
| #3 Russians should not worry about Alaska/Canada, but about central eastern Sibiria. With their population dying out, it is only a matter of time when it will be taken over by Chinese, with very little resistance--not that Russians wouldn't want to resist, but there would be almost no one to resist with. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-07-11 00:58 |
| #2 Looks like Canuck INTEL got wind of the "Take Back Alaska/Canada" rants from Russian Netters, or Putin's decision to base more boomer subs and strategic aviation in the northern Pacific and Arctic areas. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-07-11 00:38 |
| #1 Hmmm. The words "Vladimir" and "Putin" seem to be missing from this article. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-07-11 00:06 |