ARCTIC: SOVEREIGNTY

Moving target Can anyone really own a melting “land” of ice and snow? By Stephen Kimber

North of 66 The Arctic Circle is more of an approximation than a fixed location. Thanks to tidal forces and lunar influences, its (66°33’46.3” as of July 22, 2016 according to Wikipedia) is reportedly drifting north by approximately 15 metres annually.

atlanticbusinessmagazine.com | Atlantic Business Magazine 61 1.3 kilometre-long outcropping of Who owns the Arctic? rocks on the border between self- claimed Canadian and Danish turf, There was a time when the answers to that they planted their country’s flag in the rocks and left a bottle of question were simpler. Which was a time when the Schnapps to prove their patrimony. answers didn’t matter all that much. Now they do. In 2005, ’s military And the answers are suddenly anything but simple. staged its own Operation Frozen Beaver — yes, really! — replacing the Dannebrog flag with our Canadian Let’s start with the basics. The entitled to claim what’s up (and maple leaf forever, and the Schnapps , which is frozen water below) there. with a 40 of Canadian Club, then rather than frozen land, doesn’t If the math, geography and left an Inukshuk and a this-is-ours belong to any state, although a geopolitics create overlapping plaque for good measure. number, including Canada, claim it jurisdictions (Canada versus In 2007, a team of six Russian for themselves. , Canada v. , Canada explorers descended 14,000-feet If you look down at the northern v. the U.S.A., the U.S.A v. Russia?), to the north pole sea floor in two curve of earth from a satellite’s eye the treaty sets out a mechanism submersibles to plant a one-metre- view, you’ll see five countries — to settle such disputes through a high Russian flag on the oil-and-gas Russia, Canada, the , separate tribunal. rich 2,000-kilometre Lomonsov and (thanks to Except there’s another wrinkle. Ridge, an underwater mountain Greenland) — with northern borders Since the United States never signed range that runs from Russia’s nudging up into the 14-million on to the Law of the Sea, it can’t go New Siberian Islands to Canada’s square kilometres that is the Arctic to the tribunal, and must negotiate Ellsmere Island. You won’t be Circle frontier. directly with its territorial rivals. surprised to know that this Russian- Thanks to the 1982 United Nations So far, no dispute has made it to claimed territory is also claimed by Law of the Sea treaty, each of the tribunal — even though many both Canada and Denmark. those five countries automatically countries, including Canada, already The then-Harper government controls an area of 200 nautical claim territory that’s also claimed by — whose “Canada First” defence miles beyond their northernmost others. In the last two years, in fact, strategy prioritized the Arctic — shoreline. Countries can extend Russia filed a claim for an additional immediately recognized a Russian their jurisdiction up to another 150 1.2 million square kilometres and affront and raised it one Canadian nautical miles if they can prove the Danes laid claim to 900,000 notch by pledging to construct their underwater continental shelf more. In both cases, some of their a (still under-construction) deep extends beyond that 200-mile new claims overlap with our own. sea port at Nanisivik on northern boundary. Occasionally, all the Arctic . The port would Sounds (sort of) simple until sovereignty one-upmanship seems serve as a base for our (also still your realize much of that undersea slapstick. under construction) fleet of Arctic seabed has yet to be fully explored In the 1980s, for example, when offshore patrol vessels and show and mapped, so we don’t really members of Denmark’s military those Ruskies just who owns the yet know who is ultimately legally visited Hans Island, a barren, true north strong and Canadian. To

Shots over Hans Island Little more than a 1.3 km2 rock situated in the between and Greenland, Hans Island is nevertheless a strategic asset in the debate over Arctic assets. Canadian and Danish military forces have been known to exchange shots over the island to assert territorial ownership. In past visits, each group has planted their national flag and a bottle of alcohol as proof of sovereignty. Denmark’s reported weapon of choice is Schnapps; Canada’s is Canadian Club.

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the from Asia to North America’s huge east coast Artika 2007 was a Russian expedition to American marketplace. According test the workability of to the Globe and Mail, China’s deep-water, under-ice government has already published submersible operations. a 365-page charts-and-instructions As part of the mission, they placed a Russian “operating manual” for cargo flag on the sea floor of operators planning to sail across the the Lomonsov Ridge — in top tip of Canada. an area also claimed by As Rob Huebert, a University Canada and Denmark. of Calgary professor and Arctic legal expert put it, such northern shipping would pose “the biggest emphasize the Arctic’s importance raise sea levels, accelerate warming, direct challenge to Canadian to our future, Harper himself began interfere with the moderating sovereignty” in waters we claim as making annual photo-opportunity effects of the Gulf Stream, put wind our own “internal waterway.” But pilgrimages there. in the sails of rogue storms and even our claim is in dispute. The All of this might be little more weather events, wipe out existing United States argues the Northwest than entertaining political-sideshow northern fisheries, wreak havoc on Passage is an international strait theatre, except for one inescapable the delicate Arctic eco-system and with rights of “transit passage,” and reality: global warming. otherwise change everything about once unilaterally sent its own ship Climate change is happening everything, creating new challenges through the passage to prove it. But faster and more intensely in the and opportunities that will make no matter who theoretically owns Arctic than anywhere else. Thanks the answer to our initial question — it, the reality is that the Passage to the region’s twice-the-rest-of- who owns the Arctic — even more remains a beyond-our-resources-to- the-world warming rate, Arctic questionable. manage, twisty, shifty, treacherous summer sea ice is projected to When the summer ice does waterway, an environmental disappear within a generation, if disappear, commercial shippers will disaster in waiting. not sooner. That could be — will be suddenly have a new and potentially Yes, Virginia, it is complicated. — globally calamitous. The melt will 40-per-cent-shorter route through And then it gets worse. This

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64 Atlantic Business Magazine | September/October 2016 Problematic — in legal terms — doesn’t begin to Justin Trudeau. He was only six years old when he first traveled to describe the looming battles over how to divvy the north pole during his father’s up, develop and/or protect the Arctic’s untapped official visit. “Everybody knows that undersea resources. the north pole is in Canada,” the new prime minister joked during a post-election town hall. summer, more than 1,000 collaboration, technological But who owns it? That is still the passengers, each paying north innovation, harsh environment question. • of $25,000-Canadian, got the research and development and opportunity to gawk at the plant- world-class education efforts.” and-animal-disappearing, climate- The immediate Canadian FEEDBACK changing Northwest Passage decisions about what to do next are * [email protected] from the luxury decks of the in the hands of new Prime Minister a @AtlanticBus; @skimber; #MovingTarget Crystal Serenity during a cruise from Anchorage, Alaska, to New York. Arctic legal scholar Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia calls this “extinction tourism.” Operators will make a profit showcasing “animals before they disappear. I find that extremely problematic.” Problematic — in legal terms — doesn’t begin to describe the looming battles over how to divvy up, develop and/or protect the Arctic’s untapped undersea resources. By some estimates, 13 per cent of the world’s potential oil reserves and 30 per cent of its gas are hiding under northern ice. That’s not even counting deposits of gold, diamonds, nickel and other minerals. Canada’s share of all that could be more than $20 trillion. While we don’t currently have the safe, sophisticated technology to tap into those resources and while falling energy prices has taken some of the urgency out of energy supply GLOBAL LEADERS discussions, there is no question those resources will one day be in IN ICE MANAGEMENT play — and questions will need to be answered about who owns them 30+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE | Oil and gas exploration and production and what rules will govern their in ice infested waters was the start of our successful track record in Ice and extraction. Environmental Services. Today our fully integrated ice management solutions Which may explain why countries are being used by clients worldwide. CLIENT-DRIVEN | The key to successful with Arctic borders are busily ice management is open dialogue that establishes programs tailored to client staging ever more showy military needs. The result is safe operations with minimum ice-related down-time. exercises to back their claims to PROVEN TRACK RECORD | We have tracked over 120,000 icebergs and the land beneath the seas. And executed over 100 successful ice management programs ensuring optimal why more and more conferences operations, safety, and protection of the environment. are being organized to discuss and debate what to do next. Next month in St. John’s, for PAL Aerospace o€ers proven ice management solutions. example, the Maritime and Arctic Security and Safety Conference will stage “Converging Interests,” a two- day (October 27-28) gathering of national and international northern development experts. The focus [email protected] | palaerospace.com will be on promoting “stakeholder

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