Canada and the Maritime Arctic
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Canada and the Maritime Arctic © The authors 2020 North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network c/o School for the Study of Canada Trent University Peterborough, ON LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION Canada and the Maritime Arctic: Boundaries, Shelves, and Waters / P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Suzanne Lalonde, and Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon Issued in electronic and print formats ISBN: 978-1-989811-03-1 (pdf) 978-1-989811-02-3 (paperback) 1. Arctic regions – legal aspects. 2. Sovereignty, International – Arctic regions. 3. Arctic regions – boundary disputes. 4. Arctic regions – Canada. 5. Arctic Sovereignty. 6. Canada – Arctic. 7. Jurisdiction, Maritime – Arctic regions. I. Lackenbauer, P. Whitney, author II. Lalonde, Suzanne, author III. Riddell- Dixon, Elizabeth, author IV. North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network, issuing body V. Title. Page design and typesetting by P. Whitney Lackenbauer Cover design by Jennifer Arthur-Lackenbauer Please consider the environment before printing this e-book Canada and the Maritime Arctic Boundaries, Shelves, and Waters P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Suzanne Lalonde, and Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Suzanne Lalonde ....................... i 1. The Beaufort Boundary: An Historical Appraisal of a Maritime Boundary Dispute by P. Whitney Lackenbauer ............................................... 1 2. Canada’s Arctic Submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon ........................................ 63 3. The Northwest Passage by Suzanne Lalonde .......................................... 107 Conclusions by P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Suzanne Lalonde, and Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon .................................................................................. 163 Appendix: Canada’s Other Boundary Disputes in the Arctic by P. Whitney Lackenbauer ............................................................................. 169 Further Reading ............................................................................................ 177 Index ............................................................................................................... 192 LIST OF FIGURES 1-1: The Disputed Zone in the Beaufort Sea Introduction ................................ 3 1-2: The Canadian Beaufort Region .................................................................... 5 1-3: Michel Frederick’s proposal to adopt the 141st meridian as the continental shelf boundary with a shared resource zone ...................... 33 1-4: Inuvialuit Settlement Region ...................................................................... 39 1-5: Inuvialuit Use of Land and Sea in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, 1960s and 1990s ............................................................................................ 40 1-6: Beaufort Sea: U.S. and Canadian claims ................................................... 43 2-1: Maritime zones ............................................................................................. 66 2-2: Data Collection in the Arctic Ocean, 2006-11 ........................................... 70 2-3: Canadian Arctic Ocean Surveys, 2014-16 .................................................. 72 2-4: Danish 2014 and Russian 2015 Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) submissions .................................................................................................. 73 2-5: Canada’s 2019 Arctic ECS submission ...................................................... 75 2-6: Arctic submarine elevations ....................................................................... 77 2-7: Areas of overlap in the Canadian, Russian, and Greenland/Denmark continental shelf submissions ............................... 80 3-1: The route of the SS Manhattan through the Northwest Passage, 1969 .............................................................................................................. 110 3-2: The route of the US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea through the Northwest Passage, 1985 .......................................................................... 115 3-3: Canadian Arctic Islands and Mainland Baselines ................................. 118 3-4: Historic Inuit sea-ice use based on maps produced by the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project ........................................................... 128 3-5: NORDREG Zone extended to 200 n.m. in 2009 ..................................... 131 3-6: Boundary for Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area ............................................................................................................. 144 4-1: Arctic Region: Potential Intercontinental Shipping Routes .................. 168 LIST OF ACRONYMS ANPF Arctic and Northern LAC Library and Archives Policy Framework Canada AWPPA Arctic Waters Pollution LOSC Law of the Sea Prevention Act Convention AZRF Arctic Zone of the NLCA Nunavut Land Claims Russian Federation Agreement CBC Canadian Broadcasting n.m. nautical miles Corporation NSR Northern Sea Route CCG Canadian Coast Guard NWP Northwest Passage CE Current Era NWT Northwest Territories CLCS Commission on the OPP Oceans Protection Plan Limits of the Continental Shelf RG Record Group DCER Documents on Canadian SAR Search and Rescue External Relations TC Transport Canada DEXAF Department of UN United Nations External Affairs UNCLOS United Nations Law of ECS Extended Continental the Sea Convention Shelf UNDRIP United Nations ed. editor(s) Declaration on the EEZ Exclusive Economic Rights of Indigenous Zone Peoples HBC Hudson’s Bay U.S. United States of Company America ICC Inuit Circumpolar U.S.S.R. Union of Soviet Council Socialist Republics ICJ International Court of USCGC U.S. Coast Guard Justice Cutter IMO International Maritime USSEA Undersecretary of Organization State for External Affairs ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Publication of this volume was possible thanks to Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) program funding for the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN), as well as the Canada Research Chair in the Study of the Canadian North at Trent University. Thanks to the participants in various conferences and workshops over the years who have provided feedback and encouraged us to refine our ideas. University of Calgary doctoral candidate Ryan Dean and former University of Waterloo graduate student Corah Hodgson lent their usual eagle-eyes in helping to copy edit and proof read the various chapters, and Jennifer Arthur-Lackenbauer designed the covers and drew various maps. Introduction P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Suzanne Lalonde1 The evolution of the law of the sea, particularly since the middle of the 20th century, has had a profound impact on inter-state relations. Two specific innovations – the recognition of coastal States’ sovereign rights over the resources of the continental shelf2 and in fisheries zones,3 eventually subsumed by the exclusive economic zone (EEZ)4 – triggered a massive reordering of the oceans to define the spatial extent of these new prerogatives. The introduction of continental shelf and EEZ legal regimes, extending far offshore, brought distant coastal States into contact, transforming them into neighbours in need of new international boundaries.5 According to Philip Steinberg in The Social Construction of the Ocean, it also brought traditional visions of an ocean commons open to all into conflict with expansive claims to jurisdiction over ocean spaces for resource exploitation and conservation, a clash exacerbated by differing interpretations of the rules governing maritime boundary delimitation.6 This tension between the oceans as a global commodity and national preserve is also at play in the Arctic region. In the International chapter of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework (ANPF) released in October 2019, the Government of Canada highlights that: The Arctic is a geopolitically important region. Global interest in this region is surging as climate change and natural hazards profoundly affect the Arctic. Climate-driven changes are making Arctic waters more accessible, leading to growing international interest in the prospects for Arctic shipping, fisheries and natural resources development. At the same time, there is growing international interest in protecting the fragile Arctic ecosystem from the impacts of climate change. Lest the reader worry that these changes place Canada in a vulnerable position, the policy statement emphasizes that: ii Lackenbauer and Lalonde The Government of Canada is firmly asserting its presence in the North. Canada's Arctic sovereignty is longstanding and well established. Every day, through a wide range of activities, governments, Indigenous peoples, and local communities all express Canada's enduring sovereignty over its Arctic lands and waters. Canada will continue to exercise the full extent of its rights and sovereignty over its land territory and its Arctic waters, including the Northwest Passage.7 These are not new observations and pledges. The 2009 Northern Strategy identified “exercising Canada’s Arctic sovereignty” as the country’s number one priority, committing the government to “seeking to resolve boundary disputes”; to securing international recognition for the full extent of Canada’s extended continental shelf; and to addressing Arctic governance issues. Despite media, academic, and political anxiety about melting sea ice, increased international interest, and uncertain