A better way

Using foot soldiers, aircraft and a couple of ships, the Canadian armed forces suffered only slight embarrassment last week during their military exercise near Panniqtuuq.

Given the large scale of the operation, the Department of National Defence is justified in deeming it a success. Two people got lost in the fog one night, mainly because no one bothered to have them accompanied — and protected — by Inuit Rangers. But in the end they suffered no harm that couldn’t be undone by a warm blanket and a hot breakfast. The forces had problems with their Griffon helicopters, but until those notoriously worn-out machines are replaced, that is to be expected.

It certainly wasn’t as much of an embarrassment as last spring’s much-hyped snowmobile marathon from Resolute Bay through Eureka to Alert, when two members of the armed forces were medevaced out after suffering serious injuries before reaching their destination. One of those two men had to abandon his special role — the collection of Peary caribou droppings — but national security was not threatened.

And to make that trip, the armed forces had to a fight a real war first, with Parks Canada bureaucrats. And they lost.

As the Canadian Press revealed last week, parks officials didn’t want Rangers driving snowmobiles through Quttinirpaaq National Park, claiming possible damage to the delicate ecology of Ellesmere Island. The military first wanted the Rangers to take between 20 and 50 snowmobiles, but Parks Canada forced them to settle for seven, and only five of them made it.

So what’s all this fuss about Arctic sovereignty? It seems the federal bureaucracy’s control of the Arctic is so complete, even the armed forces can’t get in.

All joking aside, it’s the maintenance of Canadian sovereignty — especially in the Northwest Territories — that provides the official political justification for these exercises.

But to what end? The harsh reality is that in international law, Canada’s claim to the Northwest Passage is weak. We all know that the United States considers it to be an international waterway. What is not so well-known is that most of the European Union’s member nations also do not recognize Canadian sovereignty in the Northwest Passage, along with most other nations with an interest in the issue. If the Northwest Passage were ever opened at both ends to commercial vessels, it’s likely that the international court would rule against Canada’s claim.

Similarly, Canada’s claim to that over-publicized rock between Ellesmere and Greenland, Hans Island, is even weaker. There, its continuous use by Greenlandic Inuit would seem to give Denmark a stronger claim — as if it really mattered.

All the same, Canada’s armed forces have a legitimate and crucial role to play in search-and-rescue operations, protection against environmental threats, and however unlikely this may be in the Arctic, guarding against terrorist and other criminal infiltrations.

Sovereignty over the Northwest Passage? Legally, that’s already a lost cause, but the so-called ‘threats’ to sovereignty are probably overstated. Climate change experts tell us that shipping conditions in the Northwest Passage will likely remain dangerous even after global warming.

There’s a better way for Canada to exercise its claim over the Arctic — and that is to work with the people of the Arctic to make our home a better place to live.

Prime Minister Paul Martin suggested as much last month during his visit to Iqaluit. He said sovereignty is “manifested in a multitude of ways,” including the quality of life enjoyed by people who live in the Arctic, environmental protection, and economic development.

Martin was speaking off the cuff. There’s no sign yet that his personal vision has made its way into federal government policy, or ever will.

But it’s a fruitful path for the federal government to follow, should the will be there. Canada badly needs a coherent unified policy vision setting out what it wants to do with its Arctic regions, a vision that must include the economic, human development, political development, environmental protection, and circumpolar affairs. JB