I S S U E : C A N A DA ’ S A RC T I C S OV E R E I G N T Y

INTRO TO: INTERNATIONAL LAW

STATE SOVEREIGNTY

• Definition: • the lawful control by a state over its territory,• the right to govern in that territory, • the authority to apply law there to the exclusion of other

states

• Paradox since the 20th century• States had fought for complete sovereignty among their

own territory• The development of transportation and other

technologies led states to trade with each other and develop treaties to govern those interactions.

• These treaties limited the sovereignty of states

SMALL WORLD

• Between the 1930s – 2000 the world population tripled• Immigration and travel increased• People and companies had multijurisdictional ties

that needed a legal framework within which to operate• International commercial enterprises needed to

be regulated• Multinational corporations demanded legally

regulated financial protections from arbitrary state action when they invested overseas

POPULATION CHART

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Support for international law, especially as a tool for human rights protection, received a dramatic boost through the events of WWII• The international community was ill equipped to

deal with the Nazi atrocities• The international community came

together to judge and punish war criminals which created the law that underlay the Nuremburg trials• It became clear that a wide range of human

activity needed to be regulated on an international basis

REGULATION OF SPACE EXPLORATION

• Space vehicle over-flight and remote sensing from satellites meant that traditional ideas of exclusive territorial state sovereignty had to be reconsidered• On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully

launched Sputnik I, an unmanned space satellite that circled Earth every 96 minutes• the international community responded by

creating rules to govern this new activity

PARADOX: SOVEREIGNTY VS. INTERDEPENDENCE

• The need to coordination actions among states have given rise to initiatives that limit action by individual states• States willingly surrendered some freedom to

gain political, economic, or scientific advantages of cooperation• The term International Law now describes not

only the regulations among states but also how states handle such matters as human rights within their borders

CANADIAN ISSUE:CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY

• Canada’s Arctic occupies a strategic location politically and economically• It contains sought after natural resources• It underlies important air communications routes from

the US to Europe• It sites between navigation routes from the eastern

seaboard of the US to Alaska

CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY 2

• Canada declares the waters between the mainland and the Arctic islands to be internal Canadian waters• Canada’s claims have been challenged by the US

who sent an ice-strengthened super-tanker through the Northwest Passage to test the possibility of oil transport from Alaska’s North Slope to the US eastern seaboard in 1969

CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY 3NORTHWEST PASSAGE

CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY 4

• With the polar ice cap melting, a possible maritime route – the Northwest Passage – is opening up

• US commercial ships will want to go through Canada’s territory because it is a shortcut of more than 4000 nautical miles when compared to the current route through the Panama Canal• European ships travelling to Asia will also have a

significantly shorter trip by using the Northwest Passage

NORTHWEST PASSAGE VS.PANAMA CANAL

CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY 5

• The US and other maritime powers do not accept Canada’s claim to sovereignty over the waters of the Arctic archipelago• The environment and fragile ecosystem would be

greatly effected by an unregulated shipping route

CANADA’S ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTYACTIVITY

• In groups of 3 discuss the opinions on the issue of Canadian claims to sovereignty in the North.

• Discuss: 1. Is this opinion valid? Explain why or why not? 2. Should Canada send military to protect its claim?3. Should Canada provide the Inuit people more support to

strengthen its settlement of the Arctic?4. Why does the prospect of global warming make the issue of

sovereignty in Arctic waters more pressing?5. How does the use of Arctic waters by US nuclear submarines

affect Canada’s claims to sovereignty?

• Write: Would you support measures by the Canadian government to assert sovereignty in Arctic waters? Explain