The Canadians are coming! (insert joke here)

[Tchocky]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6287436.stm

Reclamation!

Aren't Russia doing the same thing? We could get P_Funk and CCIP to fight to the death :hmm:

[baggygreen]

but... doesnt ccip live in canadia too???

what about kapitan?

[fatty]

These new boats are really a joke. AFAIK they will only have the capability to function in first year ice which is really limiting to their reach. They're also going to be crewed by reservists, yet unfortunately navigating the Arctic is no picnic. And now, at the same time, our coast guard - the guys who actually have the experience there - will continue to operate decades old breakers and our maritime patrol aircraft, with a great record of Arctic presence and patrol, are being cut short. :nope: Asinine vote-buying.

Shameless plug for my paper, Viable Options for Securing Canadian Arctic Sovereignty (http://naval.review.cfps.dal.ca/current.php)

[August]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6287436.stm

Reclamation!

Aren't Russia doing the same thing? We could get P_Funk and CCIP to fight to the death :hmm:

Nobody cared about the GWN until the discovery of oil. :nope:

[Tchocky]

but... doesnt ccip live in canadia too???

what about kapitan?

We'd have to fly him over :)

[SUBMAN1]

Do you mean that someone is actually paying attention to Canadia's claim of owning international waters? Funny! :D

What is the real rule? 12 Miles off the coast? I guess they own up to 12 nm off their own coast, but that's it.

-S

[Gildor]

It's a good idea and needs to be done.

Any idea where the northern navy base is going to be? Churchill, Manitoba seems a likely option. If I remember, it's connected to the rail/road infrastructure with the rest of Canada.

[P_Funk]

Do you mean that someone is actually paying attention to Canadia's claim of owning international waters? Funny! :D

What is the real rule? 12 Miles off the coast? I guess they own up to 12 nm off their own coast, but that's it.

-S Actually I believe that the UN resolution applying to sea borders, forget its name but I'll go look it up, asserts that any underwater cliff attached to the land mass belonging to any nation in question is also sovereign territory. There however is also the international law that says if you don't patrol an area, or assert direct control over an area that is being routinely navigated by foreign vessels that area becomes international waters. Now we see why the US has been sending submarines through there lately.

I recall a story of a combined Canadian/Dutch team of underwater geologists using sonar to map the underwater topography in the area in an attempt to actually figure out where the territorial waters are at. This is of course related to that UN resolution. I also believe that there is a deadline for asserting your stake.

Despite my distaste for Stephen Harper I find this to be a positive thing. Even if he is defeated in the next election (and I hope he is) this could force other parties to recognize and continue the process of securing our sovereignty. We need every inche we can get. A remark often attributed Mark Twain says "Buy land. They ain't making it anymore".

Edit. So I did some reading and it tunrs out that it is referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Though it was signed in 82, it was made effective in 94. The part I was specifically referring to was the following as quoted from the Wiki article on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea) (oooh so dangerous to quote wikis):

Continental shelf is defined as natural prolongation of the land territory to the continental margin’s outer edge, or 200 nautical miles from the coastal state’s baseline, whichever is greater. State’s continental shelf may exceed 200 nautical miles until the natural prolongation ends, but it may never exceed 350 nautical miles, or 100 nautical miles beyond 2,500 meter isobath, which is a line connecting the depth of 2,500 meters. States have the right to harvest mineral and non-living material in the subsoil of its continental shelf, to the exclusion of others.

But of course the US hasn't ratified the agreement. Lots of room for debate on this obviously.

But also there is the fact that Canada is claiming the Northwest passage as internal waters since it is between islands which we claim as our own. Its pretty complicated to I'm buffing up on it.

EDIT.2 - Well I also made an error above. Its not the Canadian-Dutch team, its the Candian-Danish venture. Sorry europeans but I mix those two up all the time.
Article:http://ccablog.blogspot.com/2006/03/mapping-arctic-seabed.html