Sabre-Rattling Canadians

There have been a lot of satire and jokes writen about belligerent Canadians. It seems oxymoronic somehow, like "compassionate conservatives", but now Canada has a compelling reason to look to defending its shores - global warming.

Three Canadian warships were steaming through Arctic waters as Ottawa displayed a new and almost bellicose determination to protect the sovereignty of its northernmost boundaries...For years, Canada has taken its control of the vast northern region mostly for granted. But with the melting of polar ice providing access for shipping, the government is anxious about possible territorial rivalries with Norway, Russia and the United States as well as Denmark.

The melting ice, attributed to global warming, could even open the legendary North-west Passage, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific, to shipping. Canada and Russia are at odds over areas of the continental shelf in the region, with its potentially important mineral and oil deposits.

Meanwhile, the United States wants the Passage to be under international, not Canadian, control. There are also fears of clashes with the US over riches beneath the Beaufort Sea which extends northwards from the coasts of both Canada and Alaska.

Canada admits that the sudden burst of naval activity is no coincidence. "This is a demonstration of Canada's will to exercise sovereignty over our own back yard," Commodore Bob Blakely, of the Royal Canadian Navy, told reporters in Churchill at the weekend.

The US Navy has already made plans to invade Canada and seize the new ports should the Northwest Passage open and Canada prove unwilling to allow open access. (I saw the website last year, it was an official Navy site parts of which were open but others were behind a password protection system - however now I can't find the link again. Anyone out there have it?)I have no doubt that the UK has a contingency plan to aid Canada should that be needed against any aggression from the US, Russia or even Denmark(same Queen, y'know).

It's all a bit "alternate-history" but it does open an interesting realm of speculation over this possible new geopolitical flashpoint. It should be noted that Denmark and Canada are definitely taking the matter seriously. There is an ongoing diplomatic dispute over a tiny island between Greenland and Canada, the ownership of which would confer the lion's share of rights to that end of any opening Passage.The lucrative but destabilizing trade and resource possibilities opened by global warming in the North will only become a more pressing issue as the years pass. (It also brings up the inevitable "if Bush didn't believe in global warming two years ago why was his Navy planning for it?")

I have no particular point or place to go with any of this, as I say its an interesting area for "what-ifs", that's all. Well, so far anyway.