Greenland pooh-poohs poaching claim

IQALUIT — Do poachers from Greenland pose a threat to national security in the High Arctic?

That’s what secret Canadian military documents seem to suggest.

According to a story last week in the Globe and Mail newspaper, the documents reveal the concerns of Col. Pierre LeBlanc, the former commander of Canadian Forces Northern Area. LeBlanc worries that hunters and tourists may be slipping onto Ellesmere Island and poaching polar bears.

But according to the Globe, Greenland’s ambassador to Canada laughed at the colonel’s concerns, deeming them ridiculous.

Canadian Forces officials say the worries are legitimate. According to Maj. Bob Knight, head of the Canadian Rangers for the North, several years ago the RCMP arrested poachers who had arrived from Greenland to conduct an illegal hunt in the High Arctic.