Asserting Arctic Sovereignty Claim

Canada Bases its Ownership of Far North on Occupancy

Aug 18, 2009

Global warming is causing the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean to melt and this is bringing on renewed interest in exploiting the resources of the region.

University of Calgary professor Rob Huebert is an expert on Arctic sovereignty issues. In October 2007 he told Oilweek magazine: “One of the things that is being increasingly understood about the Arctic is that it’s a treasure trove of natural resources.” New technology, global warming, and record high prices for resources makes going after these commodities attractive economically. The result is that anybody with a halfway decent case to make is putting dibs on whatever they can. They are doing this because they believe there are question marks around who owns the resources.

Nobody seriously questions Canada’s sovereignty over the Arctic islands. Baffin, Ellesmere, Devon, Victoria, and all the other islands appear safe from the claims of other nations. Canada’s ownership of the region is based on the voyages of Martin Frobisher, an adventurer and something of a rogue. Bringing with him the European concept of ownership of land, Frobisher claimed the Arctic for England in 1576. The Inuit, who already lived there, were not asked whether they minded.

In 1880, the British government transferred ownership of its Arctic territories to Canada. This vast area is known as the Arctic Archipelago and is roughly 2,400 km from east to west and about 1,900 km from north to south.

Threaded throughout the Arctic Archipelago are waterways, usually referred to as the Northwest Passage. This is where Canada’s sovereignty gets a bit shaky.

Under international law, a country’s sovereignty extends 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the coast. The Northwest Passage is more than 24 nautical miles wide throughout its length. So, in theory, there’s always a channel in the middle that is outside Canadian jurisdiction. Canada counters this by saying the Inuit have for centuries lived on the winter sea ice in these straits, so that occupation gives us ownership.

A Library of Parliament briefing paper (January 26, 2006) reinforces this point: An “important dimension of the assertion of Canadian sovereignty includes stewardship, an issue that has been raised by Canada’s northern Inuit and Aboriginal peoples. Specifically, ‘use and occupancy’ by Canada’s northern inhabitants is significant in terms of the validity of Canada’s sovereign claims.”

(The 200-mile - 370 km - limit is an exclusive economic zone; it does not mean a country has complete sovereignty within that line).

Ottawa claims the waterways of the Northwest Passage are “inland,” meaning they fall entirely under Canada’s jurisdiction.

Not so, say many other nations who cite that 12-mile rule. The United States and most other maritime powers claim the navigable channels are an “international strait.” That, says Washington, gives them and anybody else with a mind to do so the right to sail through the Northwest Passage any time they want.

There is a legal definition for an international strait. First, it must connect two major bodies of water. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, the Northwest Passage certainly qualifies. But, an international strait must also be useful for navigation and used.

At present, only about 100 vessels have made the trip through the Northwest Passage. The first to do so was the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen in 1906. The RCMP vessel St. Roch became the first to sail through the passage in both directions in 1944. But, the traffic is going to get heavier.

A U.S. Navy Symposium (April 17-18, 2001) concluded that, “within five to ten years, the Northwest Passage will be open to non-ice-strengthened vessels for at least one month each summer.”

The value of the Northwest Passage is that it cuts 5,000 kilometres off the trip, via the Panama Canal, from Asia to Europe.

So, if a large number of ships go chugging among the Arctic islands without Canadian permission the legal status of the waterway could change. A lot of international lawyers will be earning large fees arguing just that point.

The copyright of the article Asserting Arctic Sovereignty Claim in International Politics is owned by Rupert Taylor. Permission to republish Asserting Arctic Sovereignty Claim in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.