Earlier this week, Russia continued to push forward their claim on the North Pole in an effort to gain control of the natural resources that are buried beneath.  In an odd moment of strength, the Canadian government has put their foot down to say “No, you can’t have it.”

Canada has not been seen as a forceful nation since the end of the World Wars when we would commit hundreds of thousands of troops, machines and resources in an effort to protect the world’s status quo.  Since this time, we have seldom had to say ‘no’ to other nations, and would often only say this to the native peoples politely asked for some of their land back.  So it was a little surprising to hear Peter MacKay say that Russia is employing 15th century tactics in order to stake their claims to otherwise virgin soil.

Currently the northern waters are shared by five nations, but Russia is attempting to expand their claim right up to the northern pole, stating that the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by a single continental shelf.

It will be quite interesting to see how this plays out in the near future.  The UN has already said that nobody owns the North Pole, just as nobody owns Antarctica.  The five nations that border the Arctic Ocean have their economic territories of 320 km (200 miles) from the nearest shore, and that’s worked great for years.  If nations could once again travel somewhere and plant a flag saying “This is mine”, then it could be the start of another colonial-type race.  The northern islands of Canada would be a prime target for dozens of sea-faring nations as they race to get in on the Northwest Passage potential, and other nations would jump at the chance to plant flags at the bottom of the ocean in other resource-rich international waters while stating some ill-worded legislation.

The arctic shouldn’t belong to anyone.  Nor should it be mined for resources and gutted like the rest of the earth.  Regardless of the amount of potential fossil fuels, fish stocks, diamonds and other minerals, the land should not be dirtied by our greed and poor resource planning skills.

500 years ago, the fish stocks at the mouth of the St. Laurence river in Canada was so full of fish that fishermen would hear the sea life beating against the boat.  Now the stocks are so sparse that they could not maintain a single town’s fish supply.  Diamonds often bring out the worst in people, and Sierra Leone is just one recent example of the depths we’ll sink to in order to obtain the stone.  As for fossil fuels, well … we sure are dependant on these things.  But we will never switch over to another fuel if there is always another source for the black crude.

It’s nice to see Canada stand up to Russia’s publicity stunt.  Perhaps this means the country will finally start to play a much more proactive role in world matters.