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Briefly...
 
(keep in mind I go to a Canadian university and have heard about this issue from a largely Canadian perspective which is likely to be biased about this issue).

-This is about the area/passage of the arctic which lies closest to Canada
-The northwest passage was originally British territory but was given to Canada. At the time it was believed to be useless territory
-Global warming has caused the ice bergs to melt. In the near future, the northwest passage will be the fastest route between northern Eurasia and North America, opening up endless trade and tourist possibilities
-Canada maintains its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, however, other countries (such as the U.S. and Russia) claim that it is international territory and no longer (and never did) belong to Canada.
-Most likely it will become international territory
-The U.S. has continually sent naval vessels through the Northwest Passage, causing anger from Canadian Media/Citizens when they argued that they did not need to seek permission from the Canadian Coast Guard.




Some International Strait Arguments
-Britain never had the right to give Canada the northwest passage in the first place
-One cannot claim sovereignty over icy areas as they're essentially water
-Without military presence Canada cannot claim sovereignty.
-The Canadian military is unable to protect the arctic waters anyway, so regardless of whether they maintain their sovereignty or not, international dangers in the area will remain the same.
-With Canadian sovereignty in place, the U.S. would be in less of a position to protect themselves against Russia.

Some Canadian Arguments
-The northwest passage indisputably belonged to Canada until it became of use to other countries, after which their minds were suddenly changed.
-At its narrowest point, the passage is less than twelve nautical miles wide, making at least that portion of it indisputably Canadian.
-Any oil spills or accidents would have to be cleaned by Canadian services
-The native people who live in the arctic are Canadian, and any damages made to their home can't be protected by the Canadian government if they don't maintain their sovereignty.
-If it's made an international strait, Canada will not be able to maintain the cleanliness and quality of its arctic water, envirionment, or wildlife.
-Canada did make an effort to place better military prescence in the arctic, but their appeal for subs was vetoed by the United States.
-The northwest passage can open up increased smuggling, piracy, and terrorist activity which Canada will have a harder time protecting itself against if they cannot maintain their sovereignty and prescence in the arctic.



I'm aware of the lop-sidedness of the arguments presented, but like I said I go to a Canadian university and read largely Canadian articles, which is also why I'm opening this up to debate to see what everyone's opinions are on the subject, and other arguments (if you have them).




Arctic Map



The Northwest Passage

Thats what you think, were pretty much viewed as an untapped resource (which, by the way, is bullshit), and if theres any footing any of the powers can get in the door they'll take it. Especially the U.S. and that doesn't sit well with alot of us Canadians.

Gentlemen, the annexation of Canada could definantly become a reality with the (hopefully theres continent under that ice) Northwest Passage becoming a reality.

Weird, I've never even considered this, but yeah... it's ours... but then again... it's ICE. I couldn't care less personally.

I can understand why you (and others) might think that, but our country's known for its natural beauty and even if it's ice, don't you think we should try to preserve it? It's also wildlife, and there are native people living up north as well who would be affected by unregulated transit through the passage. Plus anyone who comes illegally through the passage would end up in Canada- gun smuggling, drug trafficking could become  harder to impossible to monitor.

1. The States does not recognise most of the arctic sea we claim is ours.

2. The subs that patrol the arctic sent a message to the Canadian Coast Gaurd that they were patrolling the Arctic seas, they did not however ask permission.

3. Canada wants to keep it's position as is now (right now the shortest route cross the world (europe-asia) is through Canada), and if we lose the position we lose lots of good leverage and revenue.

4. Canada sent people to live in Nunavut to strengthen Canada's foothold there. AND the federal government will be sending key military outposts to strengthen holds on the area of the Northwest Passage.

Really though the only difference between a national straight and one owned by the country (instead of just going through it's borders) is you can't charge people crossing, and you can't bar people from crossing. You can still enforce laws if it goes through the sea you own (which the Northwest Passage infact does).

But if it does become national ,a huge chunk of the Arctic on the otherside will be up for grabs (Russia is claiming that a certain part of Ocean bed is attached to it that stretchs to the North Pole and it's thus theres). And we all know what'll happen then.

The difference between the Fallout gag (it's actually been in the first Fallout's intro aswell), and now is that the gag had to do with war with those damned commies, this has to do with trade and battle over the most important resource, water. And god forbid the people who live in those deserts in the U.S. would just love to have Canada's water rerouted to them.

So yes, theres more to the annexation of Canada joke.

Yes, the Maple Leaf shall send chills down our enemies spines!!!

Eh now, your talkin' about the best shots in the world, we'd be putting bullet holes between your eyes before you could even realize we were there. Plus you guys would sucumb to hypothermia at minus 12 (30 with windchill), pansies.

I just found this documentary:

If you go here and look in related videos you can see an option to watch the full film.

I'm not sure if geoblocking will let you watch it outside of Canada, though.

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Sorry canada but claiming ownership of ice just seems kind of silly....

1. How could the United State "veto" you using what is currently considered native canadian waters. Typical anti-america bullshit I have to listen to all the time. If Canada had the resources to spare and wanted to patrol the passage, there is nothing the US could do to stop them.

2. How reputable are the sources claiming US subs were using the passage? We spend like 8 billion dollars on each sub to make sure that noone can detect them. So the idea that we would pop up and flip you off so that you know we are there seems proposterous.

3. If in fact making the passage international waters attracted any sort of piracy or smuggling it would not be the Candadian government who would  clean it up. The United States Navy battles pirates, smugglers, and cartel ships across the entire world, if this passage is really that important we will do so there as well.

4. The claim that the people living in the artic are endangered is bullshit. How many people live in the arctic circle? Less than 1 person per square mile. Something tells me the international community wont feel any repercussions of that.

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1. The United States didn't veto us posessing the waters...sorry but you misread. They vetoed us purchasing subs to patrol the waters, and then complained we don't have the military strength to protect the arctic.

2.  I just found this document online. Sorry, I was mistaken I thought it was subs found, but it was two American ships. Canada believes there were U.S. subs in the arctic in a particlar incident, however, the U.S. denies this and it hasn't been resolved.

"...Two voyages by the U.S. tanker S.S. Manhattan in 1969-1970 and the U.S. icebreaker CGS Polar Sea in 1985 highlighted the issue of Canada’s sovereign control over its Arctic territory and stirred public debate.  In 1970, the Canadian government enacted the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, which asserts Canadian regulatory control over pollution within a 100-mile zone.  In response, a U.S. foreign relations document from 1970 stated, “We cannot accept the assertion of a Canadian claim that the Arctic waters are internal waters of Canada. … Such acceptance would jeopardize the freedom of navigation essential for United States naval activities worldwide.”

(Full Document Here)


3. This is a good point, however, I don't think many Canadians would be happy about the U.S. having a military prescence to the south AND to the north. To try to understand- ow would the U.S. feel about a Russian prescence to the direct north and south of them? Technically they're allies, but there is a lot of resentment.

4. Native people have lived there for thousands of years, and have remained largely protected and isolated. Whether there are few people are not, they are still people who will have a difficult to impossible time relocating to anywhere else.

Yes, the Maple Leaf shall send chills down our enemies spines!!!

For a second I thought you said the "Maple Leafs" as in the hockey team. Stanley Cup this year? Don't think so... I've lost my faith.

Considering that the same global warming that opened the passage in the first place isn't slowing down at all, I don't think this will be a big issue for long as in a generation or two global warming will have wholly disrupted every single ecosystem on the planet to the point that all life will be pretty much dead.

Okay that might be a bit sensationalist but I think you get the point.  This is like dropping a chocolate chip cookie on the ground and instead of cleaning up the mess, arguing over who gets to eat the one single piece that doesn't have hair or dust on it.