Sovereignty in the Arctic

[peapod]

In the vancouver sun this morning, there is a full page story on what is going on in the arctic. The military is moving in to conduct its largest sovereignty excerises in recent memory.
Already Denmark has sent danish military personnel to Hans island to reinforce their country claim to it.
With global warming the vast resources of the arctic is up for exploitation. We have neglected this part of our country and now its going to be up for international challenge. As John Diefenbaker said when he came into power in the 50s "The north with all its vast resources of hidden; the wonder and challenge of the North must become our national consciousness"
I say forget about deserts and other countries, there is something very important going on right here in our own country. The Inuit on whom much of Canada's claim to the North's rest, are beating the drum for the government to face up to the challenges of a melting ice cap and take a more aggressive stance on the arctic sovereignty.

 

[Reverend Blair]

We forget about other countries at our peril, Peapod. That is no excuse for ignoring our own arctic though. We need to do both.

There is no reason why the Canadian military cannot hold regular patrols and/or training exercises in our north. We have neglected to do so largely because of issues of cost and comfort. The costs really are minimal when compared to the dangers of not doing so though, and the issue of comfort should not be a factor at all.

 

[peapod]

The article also made a point that for most of the cold war, the canadian military excelled at arctic operations and was considered a world leader in such capabilities. Honestly and heartfelt here, I once had the opportunity to fly over great slave lake, just the tip of the north. It was a very spiritual experience for myself, without the north, canada just would not be the same place, its 40 per cent of our land mass. I would like to join the patrols, I am very good at throwing snowballs, having aquired the skills in northern ontario on visits to grandma's house.

 

[Reverend Blair]

You'd have a heck of a time makig snowballs most of the time in most of the north...the cold sucks the moisture out the snow so it won't stick together.

Great Slave Lake, along with other northern lakes, is something to see, by all accounts. What sort of plane were you in? I've been in a few float planes in the near north and just loved it.

 

[peapod]

Nice you to ask reverend. My uncle called it the 56 chevy of the skies. A red beaver it was. My uncle was a Geologist for Falconbridge. He spent many years in the arctic. I had the great opportunity of spending a week at his basecamp near yellowknife.

Float planes are common here on the island. My father built logging roads for Weldwood in remote areas of the coast. Some only accessed by plane or boat. So I have been on many a float plane. But nothing like the one over the slave. The landscape is completely different than anything I had seen before. It was like a brown and gold shag carpet from the 60s. You could'nt really hear anything, they are noisy, but that was a mute point as conversation could not have matched the beauty of the land. The best part was a window was actually open and I could stick my head out.

It was a great adventure to the Land of the Midnight Sun and the Aurora Borealis, my only complaint, the bugs! Someday I will return and go higher into the arctic circle and have one hell of a spiritual experience. More canadians should experience the same.

It just happens to be one hell of a beautiful day here, time to take the bike out on a extended tour, wish I had a red beaver instead.