|
|
 |
Canada Decides to Peg Arctic Region
// Following Russia
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper set out on Wednesday on a three-day tour to the country’s Arctic regions, where Ottawa plans to build an off-shore seaport. The tour takes place at the same time with a large-scale exercise of Canada’s armed forces in the country’s north. Thus, Canada now joins the competition for the Arctic Region, in which Russia and the U.S. have played the key role so far.
“Russia sent a submarine to plant a small flag into the ocean’s bed. We are sending our prime minister,” a source in the Canadian government frankly said on Wednesday. Ottawa does not conceal that Stephen Harper’s tour has acquired a special meaning due to the successful ending of the Russian polar expedition Arctic 2007, although the tour was planned long ago.
During his three-day visit to several northern regions of Canada, PM Harper will present new initiatives for developing the territories neighboring the Arctic Region. The minister is to announce that Nahanni National Park will be expanded, and a base for training soldiers to act in Arctic conditions will be established in Resolute village. Yet, the key element of Canada’s program for expanding its presence in the Arctic Region is the decision to build an off-shore seaport in a town on the ocean coast.
Harper’s tour takes place at the same time with Operation NANOOK 07, a large-scale exercise of Canada’s armed forces in the country’s north. There participate land, air, and naval forces, including several submarines added for the first time in recent years. The exercise will drill two scenarios. According to the first one, the troops help the police to seize a large consignment of drugs. According to the second scenario, the army helps the coast guard service “in case of ecologic security violation”.
“The operation of Canada’s armed forces in the north is an important step towards securing the country’s sovereignty,” frankly declared Canadian Army’s Lieutenant-General Marc Dumais. Although ten-day NANOOK 07 was planned in advance, it is called a “sovereignty operation” in Canada, for the exercise’s purpose is to display the seriousness of Ottawa’s intentions in the struggle for the Arctic Region.
Canada’s current Arctic activities are a response to Russia’s actions. Ottawa’s top officials did not hide irritation with Moscow’s planting a Russian flag into the seabed at the North Pole during the current Arctic expedition. Canada’s Foreign Minister Peter McKay reproached Russia back then: “Look, this isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and plant flags and say, 'We're claiming this territory'.” PM Harper said that Russia’s planting its flag in the Arctic Ocean once again proved it is necessary for Canada to protect its sovereignty in the Arctic Region.
Canada claimed the North Pole back in the 1950s. The International Court declined Ottawa’s claim then. However, it ruled that the territory can become Canadian if no other country proves within 100 years that the Arctic Ocean’s bed belongs to it.
Meanwhile, Ottawa is not going just to sit and wait. The Canadian authorities have already decided to speed up the program for building eight Arctic patrol ships, which will cost $7.12 billion to the country’s budget. Besides, PM Harper is now often reminded of his Conservative Party’s pre-election promises to buy several icebreaker ships capable of moving through ice six meters thick. Canada also has a more ambitious project, “Way to Tuk”. It will allow connecting the coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk (which can be reached by land only in winter) with the country’s southern part, thus building a permanent way to the Arctic Ocean.
However, Canada’s recent Arctic activities (including military activities) have not made Moscow concerned so far. “All countries which have the right to carry out military exercise can do it, as long as it is legal,” said Andrei Krivtsov, deputy head of the information and press department at the Foreign Ministry of Russia. Yet, he suggested that Canada should not look for any response to the installation of the Russian flag at the ocean’s bed. “We were the first to descend there. Our flag is already there. There’s nothing to do in response,” said Krivtsov.
Vasily Rulinsky
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 09, 2007
|
|
|
