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Canada’s Arctic aim Harper pushes control of north; money for mapping, military, icebreaker Gary Park For Petroleum News
A C$100 million Arctic geomapping program, northern military training exercises, tougher rules for foreign ships plying what Canada deems to be its sovereign Arctic territory and a new C$720 million Coast Guard icebreaker — they’re all part of Canada’s strategy to assert its claims to Arctic waters and resources.
In a three-day swing through the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, Prime Minister Stephen Harper rolled out his long-promised plan to “control the North” as a first step to spur greater oil, natural gas and mineral exploration of the region.
The timing is no accident either, with Harper girding for a possible federal election battle in October, when the future of the Arctic is likely to be a major campaign issue with wide appeal to Canadians who see the Arctic as part of their birthright.
Mapping a 5-year exercise The five-year mapping exercise, first announced in the 2008 budget, when only C$34 million was earmarked for the program, will involve researchers on the ground and state-of-the-art aircraft with specialized sensors gathering data on the geography of the northern territories.
The information will be used to create geological models of the Arctic and subterranean maps that will help resource firms find the “treasures buried there,” Harper said.
“We know from a century of northern resource exploration that there is gas in the Beaufort Sea, oil in the eastern Arctic and gold in the Yukon,” he said. “There are diamonds in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and countless other precious resources buried under the sea, ice and tundra.
“But what we’ve found so far is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.”
Using his popular refrain, Harper said the first principle of Arctic sovereignty is “use it, or lose it.”
“To develop the North we must control the North. And to accomplish all our goals for the North, we must be in the North,” he said.
Private exploration expected Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said the program is expected to initially generate C$500 million worth of exploration by private companies for new energy and mineral resources.
The announcement dovetails with the launch of a three-week joint United States-Canada scientific expedition, in which U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy and Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis St. Laurent (due for decommissioning in 2017 to be replaced by a vessel named after former prime minister John G. Diefenbaker) will explore the Beaufort using seismic technology to map the ocean bottom.
Meanwhile, a U.S. expedition to define the limits of the U.S. continental shelf is due to return Sept. 5 from offshore Alaska.
The Healy has been mapping out the foot of the slope, which has a depth of 2,500 meters, creating a 3-D map of the seafloor in the Chukchi Gap.
Its second research trip, in collaboration with Canada, “again demonstrates a commitment to reaffirming Canada’s sovereignty in the North,” Lunn said.
“Mapping Canada’s High Arctic, in addition to our other significant investments in the North, is ultimately about turning potential into prosperity for this remarkable region and for our country as a whole.”
He said Canadian researchers have conducted surveys and gathered geological data about the extent of the continental shelf to stretch Canada’s territory beyond the current 200 nautical miles, potentially adding up to 680,000 square miles.
Despite the regional disagreements between Canada and the US, with Canada insistent the Northwest Passage is an internal waterway, the expedition is seen as a key aspect of the grab for Arctic stakes by the U.S., Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark.
Raising the ante another notch, Canada started Arctic military training efforts Aug. 25.
Operation Nanook is laying the groundwork for a possible future deployment as international marine traffic hopes to take advantage of an ice-free Northwest Passage.
Pollution act to be extended Harper, in disclosing Canada’s plans to require ships entering Canadian waters to notify Canadian Coast Guard authorities, conceded his plan could run afoul of opposition from other countries, notably the U.S. which does not recognize Canada’s claims to the passage.
“It’ll be interesting to see,” he said. “I expect some countries may object.”
But he argued it is in the interests of every country to ensure “there is some kind of authority in the areas, some kind of environmental and commercial authority. We have no particular power play here.”
Harper said his government will also introduce legislation to extend the enforcement zone of the 1970 Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, which prohibits ships from dumping waste.
“These measures will send a clear message to the world: Canada takes responsibility for environmental protection and enforcement of our Arctic waters,” he said.
Harper warned that an increase in international shipping through the Arctic raises the prospect of accidents, smuggling, illegal immigration and “even threats to national security.”
“It would be desirable if the United States and Canada resolve the territorial disagreements we do have (notably the offshore boundary in the Beaufort),” he said. “That said, all of these disagreements are completely manageable.”
Harper said Canada’s new jurisdictional rules will embrace the full extent of its exclusive economic zone as recognized by the United Nation’s Law of the Sea conventional, which the U.S. has not signed.
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