Denmark Urges Canada To Reopen Territorial Talks

A quick helicopter visit to the barren island by Defence Minister Bill Graham without prior notification to the Danes provoked the latest salvo in the simmering dispute last week. Canadian soldiers also planted a Maple Leaf flag and erected an Inuit stone marker earlier this month. That prompted the Danish government to call in the Canadian ambassador. The outraged Danes sent a protest letter to Ottawa and a senior official in Copenhagen called Graham's visit “an occupation.” The Canadian government appeared to shrug off the Danish offer of negotiations. A Foreign Affairs official said Ottawa would examine any formal request but was in no hurry to reopen talks. The Danes say the countries' history of friendly relations should not be subjected to periodic squabbles over a frigid rock barely larger than a football field just south of the North Pole. “We still believe it is a very minor thing,” said Mr. Kristensen. “But if it is, in between, popping up like it is well then it's getting time to sit down and try to solve it.” The countries agreed in 1973 to draw a border halfway between Greenland — a semi-autonomous Danish territory — and Canada's Ellesmere Island. They could not agree on who should claim Hans Island and decided to resolve the issue at some later date. The dispute crept into cyberspace Thursday using the popular Google website as the battleground. A quick search of “hans island” revealed a paid advertisement with the banner headline: “Hans Island is Greenland. Greenland natives have used the island for centuries.” The ad was linked to the Danish government's foreign affairs web page with the letter condemning Graham's visit. The advertisement was not a Danish government initiative and whoever placed it was acting alone, Mr. Kristensen said. But that didn't stop one Internet expert — and patriotic Canuck — from striking back. Toronto resident Rick Broadhead placed a Google ad and said the Canadian government needs to get with the times. With Ottawa prepared to spend billions to boost its military presence in the Arctic over the coming years, he said an Internet campaign is a dirt-cheap way to spread Canada's argument. “Eight cents per click — or $200 a month — is money well spent to assert our sovereignty in the North,” said Mr. Broadhead, who has written extensively about the Internet. “Political battles are not fought solely in the press these days. They're fought on the Internet as well.” Mr. Broadhead's website includes a fluttering Maple Leaf flag and outlines Canada's traditional argument that Hans Island belonged to the British and became Canada's in 1867. The Danes say it is closer to Greenland than Canada and is therefore Danish soil..... www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050727.wdenmark0727/BNStory/National/

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