However, most major maritime powers call it an international passageway.
At stake is the right for Canada to overlay those waters with its own rules and regulations, which would mean the right to refuse entry to vessels that do not conform to certain environmental and construction standards. That is especially worrisome in the Arctic's fragile ecosystem, where pollution or fuel spills could cause severe and long-lasting damage.
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=6d4815ac-4fdb-4cf3-a8a6-4225a8bd08df&k=73925
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 11, 2006]
Note: http://www.canada.com/e...

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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
say otherwise.
There are candles of hope being lit all over the world, where
people have brought about a return to sanity by saying otherwise.
We can do it too. Aren't you tired of victims, who simply whine?
Now to make sure it gets into all the atlases and databases worldwide, also in the US ones like Rand-McNally.
The Americans feel they can sail through here in their nuclear submarines any time they please. And just how do you stop that? With a permanent sub hunter base in the Arctic. To do what? Drop sona-bouyes on them that ping (WE SEE YOU!!)? We would also need nuclear attack subs of our own. To do what. Chase them to let them know we see them?
And what if we wanted to stop every freighter that might try to sail through there without permission in the future? We would need a fleet of arctic patrol craft! And just HOW are the Americans going to react if we board a US ship, in what they consider international waters, and seize it?
If your going to strut around and talk big, like it appears Harper is wanting to do on this, you had better be prepared to walk the walk, and right now, all we could manage is a whimpering 5 foot crawl.
The Americans do that all the time. Not just to us, but any coastal country. It's not a big deal.
International law of the sea states it's not a military presence that defines territorial waters, it's commercial traffic. Our Coast Guard needs the beef up, and we need to make ports in places like Churchill and Tuktoyuktuk.
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"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden