"Staking our claims in the Arctic"

Further to this post, the Toronto Star has in fact printed my letter:

Aug 20, 2009 04:30 AM

Re: The Arctic needs more than guns,

Editorial Aug. 18

I'm afraid you, along with almost everyone else, have been taken in by the Conservative government's jingoistic nonsense about asserting Canadian "sovereignty" in the north.

You state, "Canadians can be justly proud that Ottawa is affirming our sovereignty in the north," and that "guns alone won't secure the future of Canada's north." Indeed, and there is no reason to feel pride.

There is in fact no threat to Canadian sovereignty over our northern land. No foreign country makes any claim to that territory (the Danish claim to tiny Hans Island aside); there is as much need to assert our sovereignty by increasing Canada's military and governmental presence in the north as there is in, say, Labrador. Yet no one is suggesting that government take action to ensure Labrador stays safely within Canada.

What is in dispute is Canada's claim that the Northwest Passage is Canadian "internal waters" – a claim that almost nobody else accepts, including the U.S., the European Union and Japan. But that is strictly a maritime legal issue and quite separate from our undisputed sovereignty over the great mass of northern land.

Areas of the Arctic seabed – to which Canada has yet to make a formal claim – are also in contention. But there can be no threat to a sovereignty that has not yet even been asserted.

Mark Collins, Ottawa

Thanks. And noted in Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs:

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Canadian Commentary
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Mark Collins -- Toronto Star
Letter: Staking our claims in the Arctic - More

Meanwhile the hysteria continues:

PM, military flex Arctic muscle
Harper flies Sea King, takes helm of submarine to stress importance of protecting the North

ONBOARD HMCS TORONTO–In a display of bravado, boasts and a flexing of military might, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has vowed to stand up to nations that are already "probing" Canada's North...