"Canada's Arctic sovereignty undisputed, not threatened"

Another letter of mine, this one in The Hill Times (Ottawa's inside baseball paper). Plus the conclusion of a rather lengthier one by someone else in Vanguard magazine:

A question of security, not sovereignty

...

Simplistically, Canada’s sovereignty is challenged in two ways. First, Canada believes that its national laws are applicable to all vessels navigating northern waters. Under the articles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is unclear whether foreign vessels are legally entitled to a maritime right of passage when navigating through Canada’s northern waters. If they were entitled to such a right, Canada’s jurisdiction over transient vessels would be severely restricted. Second, the location of Canada’s maritime boundaries remains disputed. Again this mostly refers to UNCLOS, where countries refute Canada’s methodology for delimiting maritime boundaries, but there also exists three bilateral disputes that Canada manages with its polar neighbours. Also, Canada has yet to delimit the extent of its continental shelf, and must do so by 2013 if it wants access to the billions of barrels of oil believed to be underneath the Arctic sea floor.

Importantly, there is a theme to Canada’s current sovereignty woes. They are maritime in nature and have little to do with the occupation of territory. Even in the case of Hans Island, the dispute is based upon Canada and Denmark not agreeing to the maritime border around the island from joint survey work that was conducted in 1972.

Ms. Teeple’s article reflects general misconceptions about Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. Yes, there is unquestionably a need to enhance Canada’s present ability to monitor and react to events in the Arctic. Her article is correct in implying this.

However, not every foreign action in the Arctic threatens our sovereignty. A foreign unwanted presence upon Canadian soil would be a matter of national security, and that, remains indisputable.

Marshall S. Horne
Masters of Strategic Studies Candidate
Centre for Military and Strategic Studies
University of Calgary

More here:

"Arctic sovereignty", or, "The cold truth"

Update: Beware the Viking scourge, Prime Minister Harper et al.