Canada won't Be Intimidated

Canada won't be intimidated into ceding sovereignty in the North, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said on the heels of news that Russia is creating a special military force to defend Arctic claims. “Let's be perfectly clear here: Canada will not be bullied,” he told reporters after a speech in Montreal. Mr. Cannon said he intends to emphasize this in talks with his Russian counterpart soon. “I will have the opportunity of making that position clear to [Russia's] foreign minister as soon as I meet with him – and hopefully that will be next week,” Mr. Cannon said. Ottawa's testy comments are the latest in strained relations between Canada and Russia as Moscow more aggressively asserts claims in the disputed Arctic. Global warming is shrinking polar ice and allowing greater access to an area believed to contain up to 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas.

Last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper rebuked Russia for resuming military training flights that approach Canadian airspace, calling these incursions. In response, Russia dispatched an envoy to tell Canadian MPs that Ottawa was overreacting and unfairly reviving Cold War rhetoric. Yesterday, Russian media reported on a recent Kremlin document signed by President Dmitry Medvedev that laid out government policy for the Arctic. It said the region must evolve into Russia's “top strategic resource base” by 2020 and that a group of military forces will be dedicated to the Arctic to “ensure military security under various military-political circumstances.” Rob Huebert, associate director of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, said it's become apparent over time that Russia has decided there will be no compromise in the process of sorting out international claims to the seabed riches in the Arctic.

Russia, the United States, Canada and other northern countries are all completing geological studies so they can win international recognition of what they each deem to be underwater Arctic borders. This will result in overlapping claims and, likely, rancour. Prof. Huebert said the “essence of the message” from the Russians seems to be that “they will negotiate as long as you agree with them.” The Russian embassy in Canada yesterday played down the consequences of a military group dedicated to the Arctic, saying Moscow has no intention of increasing tensions in the region. Vladimir Lapshin, a senior diplomat with the embassy, told CTV News his country wants to create a “zone of co-operation and peace” there. Prof. Huebert said diplomats may say there's no direct linkage between Russia's increasingly assertive military activity in the North and its seabed ambitions – but he doesn't agree. “The reality is historically whenever you mix under determined boundaries, potentially very rich resources and you insert major powers such as Russia and the United States, I can't think of a similar situation where you don't have people playing hardball,” Prof. Huebert said. “It could get a lot more rough in the North.”

Mr. Cannon said Canada's ambitions are bigger than the “simple militarization of the Arctic,” adding he hopes to be able to work with other countries, including Russia, to protect the Northern environment and develop the region's economy. But he warned that “sovereignty is uppermost for us: We will not be swayed from that.” Prof. Huebert said that, to back up its tough talk, Canada will have to start delivering on its promises of more military hardware for the North. The Department of National Defence is still examining its options on purchasing patrol ships that could improve its Arctic surveillance and response capability. It's also expanding its lightly armed reserves of Canadian Rangers – locals who can report on intrusions but have no capacity to deter them.