Northern Sovereignty
Laying Claim to Canada's Internal Waters
the PM insists more than rhetoric is required to assert Canada's sovereignty, and says he's firmly committed to backing up his political stand with significant financial resources and military might.
"The first priority of national defence is to assert your sovereign presence on your territory, to be prepared to defend Canadians from threats of all kinds, whether they be major threats of invasion, or simply minor threats of unauthorized surveillance or potential unauthorized economic activity," Harper said in an interview with Sun Media. "We believe that this is a first priority. We believe that Canadians are excited about the government asserting Canada's control and sovereignty in the Arctic. We believe that's one of the big reasons why Canadians are excited and support our plan to rebuild the Canadian Forces."
Huge capital costs for specialized equipment means holding our ground won't come cheap, but the PM says even the pricey ongoing military mission in Afghanistan won't deter delivery on his campaign pledge to build a new port, icebreaker capability and enhanced patrol and surveillance in the Arctic. He also intends to bolster the ranks of the reservist Canadian Rangers who carry out sovereignty operations in the most remote regions of the country.
This all sounds quite nice, and as a northern resident, I'm all for keeping the territory firmly under Canadian rule. However, being a northern resident means I probably keep a closer eye on this than most. Harper's campaign promises of the last election haven't translated into much action so far, and while the story line for southern consumption hasn't changed much, the government has already begun to back off on its promises.
The federal Conservative government appears to be backing off on an election promise to build a deepwater port in Nunavut – something that does not please Iqaluit’s mayor, Elisapee Sheutiapik.
”It’s very disappointing news,” Sheutiapik said at a council meeting Tuesday last week, during a member’s statement on the matter.
Sheutiapik referred to a Feb. 3 article published in the Ottawa Citizen that quotes an internal defence department document, the revised Canada First Defence Strategy.
The new strategy appears to scale back the election promise of building an Arctic sea port, along with three armed icebreakers that would patrol Canadian Arctic waters.
Instead, it calls for the construction of a refuelling and berthing site for navy ships in the Arctic, as a “forward operating location,” rather than a multi-use, civilian-military seaport.
The strategy also calls for building six Arctic patrol vessels, but these ships would not be icebreakers, and would be unable to travel through areas with heavy sea ice.
The announcement for where the arctic seaport was going to be built was scheduled for late 2006. They're now saying it will be late this year. Cynic that I am, I figure its to keep the popular idea in the news until after the next election, after which it will become much less of a priority.
One problem with having so few people in the arctic is that there are few people to notice when they fail to follow through on promises.
