Arctic sovereignty • mackaycartoons

Wednesday December 17, 2014

December 16, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 17, 2014

Denmark challenges Russia and Canada over North Pole

Denmark has presented a claim to the UN, arguing that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.

Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said it was a “historic and important milestone” for Denmark.

Canada and Russia have already asserted their own sovereignty over the energy-rich Arctic territory.

Arctic nations have agreed that a UN panel will settle the dispute.

The focus of the dispute is the Lomonosov Ridge, a 1,800km-long (1,120 miles) underwater mountain range that splits the Arctic in two.

Back in 2008, a US Geological Survey report estimated that as much as 22% of the world’s undiscovered and recoverable resources lay north of the Arctic Circle, but the North Pole itself is unlikely to have much oil or gas beneath its deep waters.

The 21-member panel investigating the competing claims to the pole will have to decide whether the scientific evidence put forward is valid. If the claims overlap, the relevant states will then have to negotiate, the spokesman said.

Mr Lidegaard said data collected since 2002 backed Denmark’s claim to an approximate area of 895,000 sq km (346,000 sq miles)- roughly 20 times the size of Denmark – beyond Greenland’s nautical borders.

Denmark, along with Russia, Norway, Canada and the US said in 2008 that the territorial dispute should be settled under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

After ratifying the convention, a country has 10 years to submit a claim to extend its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its borders. Canada expressed formal interest last year, and Denmark’s deadline is about to run out.

Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of Denmark’s Syddansk University said the government in Copenhagen had staked its claim, partly to show the world that Denmark could not be pushed about, but also to prove a political point to the people of Greenland. (Source: BBC News)

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

March 19, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Harper blasts Crimea referendum, protesters express solidarity with Ukraine

Canada has denounced the controversial referendum in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula on Sunday that showed overwhelming support to split off and join Russia, saying it would lead to further isolation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“The so-called referendum held today was conducted with Crimea under illegal military occupation. Its results are a reflection of nothing more than Russian military control,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.

“This ‘referendum’ is illegitimate, it has no legal effect, and we do not recognize its outcome,” the prime minister said, adding Canada is working with other countries on the possibility of further sanctions.

“Any solution to this crisis must respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the constitution of Ukraine. Mr. Putin’s reckless and unilateral actions will lead only to Russia’s further economic and political isolation from the international community.”

Earlier Sunday, protesters in at least two Canadian cities joined the international condemnation against the ballot.

Some protesters applauded Harper’s decision to travel to Ukraine this Friday to show support for the temporary government in the face of Russian aggression in the strategic Black Sea region.

“This is an already an important symbolic visit showing support to the Ukrainians,” said Lada Roslycky, a human rights campaigner who organized an Ottawa protest across the street from the Russian embassy.

About 100 protesters staged a mock referendum outside the heavily-guarded embassy. They brandished signs that denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin as organizers passed out fake cash, and urged mock voters to vote as often as they liked for either of two options to cede from Russia — yes and yes — as demonstrators in military garb stood over a fake ballot box. (Continued: CBC News)

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

December 11, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, December 11, 2013

‘This is not a race’: Baird defends delay in making claim for North Pole

Canada has filed a claim that dramatically expands the country’s boundaries in the Atlantic Ocean, but it will be a few more years before Canadian scientists determine whether that claim can extend all the way to the North Pole.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird — along with Minister for the Arctic Council Leona Aglukkaq — announced Canada’s submission with the UN’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which covers 1.2 million square kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean floor.

During a news conference in Ottawa on Monday, Baird said Canada also filed preliminary information on what it believes to be the outer limits of its claim to the Arctic seafloor.

While the area is not yet fully mapped, Baird says Canada will try to extend its territorial claims to the North Pole.

“We are determined to ensure that all Canadians benefit from the tremendous resources that are to be found in Canada’s Far North,” he said.

The Arctic is believed to contain as much as one-quarter of the world’s undiscovered energy resources.

Aglukkaq said expanding Canada’s continental shelf is central to Canada’s future economic prosperity.

“We are defining Canada’s last frontier,” she said.

Canada, Denmark and Russia all say they believe the mineral- and oil-rich Lomonosov Ridge, which runs beneath the ocean and close to the geographic North Pole, is a natural extension of their continental shelves. The ridge is where scientists must focus their work, Baird said.

The UN submissions will not lead to a binding decision, but instead set up negotiations between countries staking a claim to the region. Talks could drag on for years.

“This is not a race,” Baird said. “This will be something that will benefit the people of Canada for centuries to come and we wanted to take the time to get it right.”

Baird did not explain at his news conference why, after 10 years of research, the mapping work remains incomplete. (Source: CTV News)

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

May 16, 2007 by Graeme MacKay

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Nuclear Power Moratorium motion on hold

Hamilton councillors parked a moratorium on nuclear plants yesterday after hearing an earful about the controversial power option.

For nearly four-and-a-half hours, nuclear supporters and opponents waged an ideological debate in council chambers.

In the end — after tales of Chernobyl, scientific advances and environmental consequences — councillors backed off taking a firm stand on nuclear power.

“This is a highly complex issue,” Mayor Fred Eisenberger said after more than 20 delegations presented their cases. “To me, at this point in time, (a moratorium) is premature. We don’t have enough information.”

Councillor Brad Clark introduced the motion opposing nuclear plants in Hamilton’s boundaries or upwind after reading it was a possibility at the Nanticoke generating station on Lake Erie. The Liberal government has promised to close down the coal-generating plant at the site at some point, which the Ontario Power Authority recommended for a new nuclear operation. Its conversion to a gas-fired plant has also been discussed.

The Stoney Creek councillor’s initiative drew strong support from environmentalists, but also stiff opposition. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)