Canadian Military Plans Summer Arctic Mission [territorial dispute with Denmark denied as motive]

CTV.ca ^ | March 27, 2004 | CTV.ca News Staff

[MD_Willington_1976]

Ellesmere Island, 82,119 sq mi (212,688 sq km), c.500 mi (800 km) long, in the Arctic Ocean, N Nunavut Territory, Canada; second largest and northernmost island of the Arctic Archipelago. It is separated from NW Greenland by a narrow passage. The island's coast is indented by deep fjords. The interior plateau rises more than 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level; the United States Ranges, in the north, are c.11,000 ft (3,350 m) high. An ice cap covers most of the island's east side. In snow-free areas vegetation supports large herds of musk oxen. There are scientific stations and some Inuit (Eskimo) settlements on the island. First sighted by the British explorer William Baffin in 1616, Ellesmere Island was explored in the latter half of the 19th cent. Since the 1950s the island has been the site of many glaciological, geological, and geographical expeditions.

[-YYZ-]

Gee, that's really funny. It was even funnier the first 49,239 times someone said it.

[thackney]

maybe they could settle it with a beer-drinking contest

I would have guessed a curling contest, or is that the same thing?

[Kozak]

Wow. A face off of two Military Giants. This confrontation could change the entire balance of power.

[marlon]

And no less true.

[Truth29]

Could this have anything to do with oil or mineral rights or possible resources on the seabed within 200 miles of the island?

[Paleo Conservative]

A Canadian coworker suggested that maybe they could settle it with a beer-drinking contest.

That could degenerate into a p!@#$%^ contest fairly quick.

[-YYZ-]

"And no less true."

Correct. While said in fun, it is just as untrue now as it was then. While Canada's navy certainly is not impressive by US standards (whose is?), and may even be a little small by the standards of other countries our size, we do still operate a small fleet of blue-water naval vessels, mostly originally intended for the cold war job of sub-hunting.

OK, maybe I was being a little humourless, but even the funniest little jabs get pretty tired after you've heard them so many times.

[NZerFromHK]

LOL, no wonder why an Australian FRer assure me that even under a Labor government, Australia still won't be like Canada as is now. LOL

[NZerFromHK]

While Canada's navy certainly is not impressive by US standards (whose is?), and may even be a little small by the standards of other countries our size, we do still operate a small fleet of blue-water naval vessels, mostly originally intended for the cold war job of sub-hunting.

LOL, no wonder why an Australian FRer assure me that even under a Labor government with as anti-American as Mark Latham, Australia still won't be like Canada as is now. LOL

[kanawa]

Ah heck! Does this mean I have to start boycotting these...

All of a sudden I'm hungry

[NZerFromHK]

other than the principle of the matter, I could really care less if Denmark takes this god-forsaken icy rock in the far north.

That amply illustrates the spirit of Canada cicra 2004 under Prime Minister Paul Martin. Sir Authur Currie must be rolling in his grave when he sees what his generation's great-great-grandchildren are doing.

[Guillermo]

Is this a parody?

Is sending soldiers to barren wastelands in the Arctic a projection of "soft power?"

[pointsal]

What's Kofi's cut in this deal?

[GATOR NAVY]

Could this have anything to do with oil or mineral rights or possible resources on the seabed within 200 miles of the island?

Absolutely without a doubt. There is no other logical reason to be arguing over "a three-kilometre-long stretch of rock and ice in the Nares Strait". It's the same reason China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and whoever else fight over reefs in the South China Sea. Once an island is yours, you can claim an Economic Exclusion Zone.