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northwest passage

Wednesday May 8, 2019

May 15, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 8, 2019

Mike Pompeo rejects Canada’s claims to Northwest Passage as ‘illegitimate

January 27, 2006

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has rejected Canada’s claims to the Northwest Passage as “illegitimate”, in a high-profile foreign policy speech that prompted frustration and surprise among experts and government officials.

Delegates from Arctic nations – Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the US – had gathered in Finland to discuss balancing climate change with resource development in the region.

“No one denies Russia has significant Arctic interests,” Pompeo told delegates of the Arctic Council on Monday. “We recognize that Russia is not the only nation making illegitimate claims: the US has a long contested feud with Canada over sovereign claims through the Northwest Passage.”

April 1, 1999

The Arctic route linking the Atlantic and the Pacific offers a potential shortcut between Europe and China. Although the passage remains ice-bound for much of the year, it has become increasingly usable because of global warming and the retreat of Arctic sea ice.

While the United States has long maintained that the route, often blocked by sea ice, lies in international waters, Canada has argued the waters pass through sovereign territory.

Foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed Pompeo’s remarks after a meeting with her American counterpart.

“Canada is very clear about the Northwest Passage being Canadian. There is both a very strong and geographic connection with Canada,” Freeland told reporters.

Michael Byers, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia and author of International Law and the Arctic, said Pompeo’s remarks were consistent with US policy. But he said the “belligerent” speech contained numerous,“factual mistakes and logical inconsistencies”.

July 26, 2007

Byers said: “He talked about Chinese investments in infrastructure in the Canadian Arctic, [but] there are none. That was a straight-out factual misstatement.”

Pompeo also came in for criticism for enthusing about the “abundance” of resources available for extracting in the Arctic as climate change causing ice to retreat. “Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade, that can potentially slashing the time it takes for ships to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days,” he said.

The real NW passage expedition

The council meeting ended without a joint final statement from council members, after the US delegation balked at the inclusion of the phrase “climate change”.It marked the first time the Arctic Council had failed to produce a declaration since 1996.

“I actually celebrate the fact that the seven other countries stood up to the Trump administration” said Byers. “We’re talking about about six close allies of the United States – four of them Nato partners – drawing a line in the snow saying you cannot have a declaration without acknowledging the crisis of climate change.” (Source: The Guardian) 

 

Posted in: Canada, USA Tagged: 2019-17, Arctic, Canada, diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, northwest passage, oceans, shipping, USA

Wednesday September 10, 2014

September 9, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

Wednesday September 10, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 10, 2014

Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says one of Canada’s greatest mysteries now has been solved, with the discovery of one of the lost ships from Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition.

“This is a great historic event,” Harper said.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013“For more than a century this has been a great Canadian story.… It’s been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers. And so I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country,” the prime minister said.

At this point, the searchers aren’t sure if they’ve found HMS Erebus or HMS Terror. But sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show wreckage of a ship on the ocean floor.

Thursday, February 13, 2014The wreckage was found on Sept. 7 using a remotely operated underwater vehicle recently acquired by Parks Canada. When Harper revealed the team’s success at Parks Canada’s laboratories in Ottawa Tuesday, the room burst into applause and hollering.

“This is a day of some very good news,” Harper told the assembled group of researchers, some of whom had flown all night to be in Ottawa for the announcement.

Thursday, February 21, 2013“It appears to be perfectly preserved,” Harper said of the ship, adding that it has “a little bit of damage

In a statement, the prime minister said Franklin’s expedition laid the foundations of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. He called the lost ships Canada’s “only undiscovered national historical site.”

The prime minister paid tribute to the search teams — a partnership between Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Arctic Research Foundation, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy and the government of Nunavut — whose work since 2008 has paid off.

“This discovery would not have been possible without their tireless efforts over the years, as well as their commitment, dedication and the perseverance of the many partners and explorers involved,” Harper said.

2011-2015

2011-2015

Franklin’s crew became locked in the ice during a doomed search for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean in 1845. All 128 crew members eventually died, though there’s evidence to suggest some may have survived for several years.

Many searches throughout the 19th century attempted to find the lost ships, but the mystery of what happened to John Franklin and his men has never been solved. (Source: CBC News)


 

OTHER MEDIA

This cartoon was posted to Yahoo Canada News, ipolitics and National Newswatch.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Harper celebrates #FranklinExpedition find #cdnhistoryhttp://t.co/2KksxNTljEpic.twitter.com/47XSamvPP5

— mackaycartoons (@mackaycartoons) September 10, 2014

 

IN HARPER’S CANADA Libraries and archives ARE being TRASHED, books ARE being BURNED. SCIENTISTS ARE being CENSORED…

Posted by Occupy Canada on Thursday, September 11, 2014

Posted in: Canada Tagged: archives, Arctic, Canada, Expedition, Franklin, history, northwest passage, sovereignty, Stephen Harper

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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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