Canada’s newly-elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper began his term with a threat to the United States over the Northwest Passage. In his first news conference, Harper told the U.S. to “mind its own business when it comes to territorial rights in the Arctic North,” as reported by The Chicago Sun-Times.
The Northwest Passage runs from the Atlantic through the Arctic to the Pacific. Canada claims that this area is Canadian territory because it includes 16,000 Canadian islands.
According to The Washington Post, global warming is melting the passage and exposing new fishing areas and a quicker shipping route.
“The changing ice conditions are driving this issue to the top of the political agenda,” said Michael Bryers, an expert on international law at the University of British Columbia, according to The Washington Post. “We’ve essentially been able to avoid problems over this in the past because the ice has been too thick and too hard to make it a commercially viable route; but, of course, the ice is melting.”
This is making the passage more attractive to other countries because commercial ships will be able to shorten their trips from Europe to Asia by 2,480 miles compared to the current route through the Panama Canal.
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins described the Arctic passage as “neutral waters” to The Chicago Sun-Times.
“We don’t recognize Canada’s claims to those waters. Most other countries do not recognize their claim,” Wilkins said to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Russia and other countries have had claims in the Arctic conflicting with Canada’s for about three decades.
“The U.S. defends its sovereignty; the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty,” Harper said to The Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s the Canadian people that we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the U.S.”
It has been reported that U.S. Navy ships have entered these waters without seeking permission.
“The single most important duty of the federal government is to protect and defend our national sovereignty,” Harper said to The Washington Post. “There are new and disturbing reports of American nuclear submarines passing through Canadian waters without obtaining the permission of, or even notifying, the Canadian government.”
Harper told The Chicago Sun-Times that he would stand by his campaign promise to increase Canada’s military presence in the Arctic, put three military icebreakers in the waters, and build a $1.7 billion deep-water port and an underwater network of “listening posts.”
Harper did not say if he would order military action if the ships or ports detected an unauthorized submarine in the waters.
“Since taking the leadership of the Conservatives, there has been concern that Harper is too cozy with the U.S. – a kind of Canadian bogeyman when it comes to politics,” wrote Jennifer McCauley, News Editor for the Ontario-based newspaper The Intelligencer.
Beth Duff-Brown, Chicago Sun-Times journalist, wrote that Harper’s initial threat to the U.S. was “likely intended as a message to those in the Bush administration who might be cheering the election of a Conservative government and view Harper as a pushover when it comes to prickly U.S.-Canada relations.”
“Harper has shown that he is well aware that he can’t be seen as taking his orders from Washington and selected a safe issue in which to speak out,” said McCauley. “At least Harper stepped up when he didn’t have to, and that may win over some of his less skeptical critics.”
According to The Washington Post, Harper said that he had a friendly conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush on Jan.25 but had not set a date for their first meeting.
Harper has also gotten calls from Mexican President Vicente Fox, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, according to CNN.