Coates - Arctic front: defending Canada in the far north

KEN COATES was raised in Whitehorse and has a long-standing interest in northern themes. He has published widely, with many of his books aimed at general audiences. Titles include Canadas Colonies, The Sinking of the Princess Sophia (with Bill Morrison), The Modern North (with Judith Powell), North to Alaska (on the building of the Alaska Highway) and many academic books. He has worked on north-centred television documentaries and served as a consultant to northern governments and organizations. He is currently Professor of History and Dean of Arts, University of Waterloo.

P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER is one of Canadas leading experts on northern security and defence. He has traveled throughout the Arctic with the Canadian Rangers and advises government and the Gwichin Council International on northern issues. His recent books include The Canadian Forces and ArcticSovereignty (with Peter Kikkert) and Battle Grounds: The Canadian Military andAboriginal Lands. He is currently Associate Professor and Chair of History at St. Jeromes University, University of Waterloo.

BILL MORRISON is recognized as Canadas most senior historian of the Canadian North. His well-regarded book, True North, provides an overview history of northern Canada. He has published over a dozen books, many with Ken Coates, including The Alaska Highway in World War II, Land of the Midnight Sun (a history of the Yukon), and Strange Things Done, a history of murder in the Yukon. He is currently Emeritus Professor of History, University of Northern British Columbia.

GREG POELZER is a leading expert on circumpolar affairs and the politics of the modern North. He has many years of experience in Russia and Scandinavia and has a long-standing interest in Arctic affairs in Canada. He is the founding Dean of Undergraduate Affairs for the University of the Arctic, a consortium of 120 northern universities and colleges that works collaboratively to provide undergraduate and graduate education to northerners. He is currently the Director of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development is an Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Saskatchewan.

ARCTIC

FRONT

DEFENDING CANADA
IN THE FAR NORTH

Ken S. Coates
P. Whitney Lackenbauer
William Morrison
Greg Poelzer

Thomas Allen Publishers
Toronto

Copyright 2008 by Coates Holroyd Consulting Ltd., P. Whitney Lackenbauer, William Morrison and Greg Poelzer

First paperback edition copyright 2010 by Coates Holroyd Consulting Ltd., P. Whitney Lackenbauer, William Morrison and Greg Poelzer

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written permission of the publisher, or in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Arctic front : defending Canada in the far north / Ken S. Coates ... [et al.].

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-88762-619-7

1. Canada, Northern. 2. Canada, NorthernHistory. 3. Jurisdiction, TerritorialCanada. 4. CanadaBoundariesArctic regions. 5. Canada, NorthernEconomic conditions. 6. Canada, NorthernPolitics and government. 7. Arctic regionsInternational cooperation. I. Coates, Kenneth, 1956

FC3956.A724 2010 971.9 C2010-903806-1

Editor: Janice Zawerbny
Text design: Gordon Robertson
Jacket design: Sputnik Design Partners Inc.
Cover image: Shutterstock
Maps and illustrations: Lightfoot Art and Design

Published by Thomas Allen Publishers,
a division of Thomas Allen & Son Limited,
145 Front Street East, Suite 209,
Toronto, Ontario M5A 1E3 Canada
www.thomasallen.ca

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of The Ontario Arts Council for its publishing program.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $ 20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporations Ontario Book Initiative.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.

14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5

Printed and bound in Canada

The Arctic Sea is not at the end of the earth,
but must... become in time a polar Mediterranean.

VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON, explorer

CONTENTS

1 Planting the Flag:
Establishing British/Canadian Sovereignty in the North

2 Arctic Frontiers:
The Canadian North and the Cold War

3 Internal Waters or International Strait?
The Northwest Passage and the Cold War

5 The Final Race to the North Pole:
Climate Change, Oil and Gas, and the New Battle for the Arctic

Conclusion:
Reality Check: Where Does Canada Stand in the Arctic?

Arctic Front arises out of our collective frustration. Recently, debate about Arctic sovereignty has filled the nations newspapers. Its an old, old story, dating back many decades. This time around, the challenge of global warming, the retreat of the polar ice cap, and the race for Arctic oil and gas have given the discussion a twenty-first-century twist. But the underlying issuedoes and can Canada exercise effective control over its High Arctic islands and the Northwest Passagehas changed little since the nineteenth century.

Canada has had this debate before, notably during the Klondike gold rush, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the voyage of the Manhattan. Our motivation in joining it was a desire to change the national debate on Arctic sovereignty. Questions about Canadian control of the Arcticand national responsibilities in the Far Northhave bedevilled this country since the 1880s. Canadians have yet to get it right, and, equally important, our nation continues to forget the history of early episodes when Canadian sovereignty in the North came into question. We see the issue as a classic example of the truism that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. Arctic Front is our attempt to explain the origins of the contemporary debate and to challenge long-standing Canadian assumptions about its northern role and commitments.

It is unusual to have four people collaborate on a book, but our individual backgrounds and experiences all proved pivotal to the development of the project. Greg Poelzer is a political scientist and a specialist on circumpolar Arctic affairs. He made sure that we understood the global context of the current debate. Whitney Lackenbauer is a historian specializing in postSecond World War sovereignty and security issues in the Arctic. His field research has taken him from the Labrador Sea to the wilds of the Yukon to Ellesmere Islandand it doesnt get any farther north than that! Bill Morrison has been writing on Arctic sovereignty issues for many years, focusing initially on the role of the North West Mounted Police in establishing Canadas presence in the North. Ken Coates, raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, has had a longstanding professional interest in the American military projects in the Canadian North during World War II and in contemporary northern politics. What we share is a powerful belief that historical understanding matterson this issue and othersand that Canada needs to think seriously about its commitment to the Far North, though in ways different than that typically argued in the current sovereignty debate.