Dispute over Hans Island nears resolution. Now for the Beaufort Sea

John Ibbitson, Globe and Mail, January 27, 2011

Negotiators are now confident that Canada and Denmark will resolve their dispute over Hans Island, and sooner rather than later.

Relations between the two countries have grown irritable at times in recent years because of their competing claims to the barren bit of rock perched halfway between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Also in dispute is a patch of the Lincoln Sea even farther north.

But the two countries are in negotiations and have embarked on a joint mapping exercise, and both Canadian and Danish officials, speaking on background, said they were confident of reaching an agreement before Canada deposits its claim over the Arctic seabed to the United Nations in 2013.

Shared jurisdiction of the island is one possibility; another is running the border down the middle of the uninhabited, 1.3-square-kilometre knoll, which would give Canada a land border with Denmark.

In a recent poll, a large majority of Canadians said that asserting and protecting Arctic sovereignty should be Canada’s foremost foreign policy priority. In a statement to The Globe and Mail, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon insisted that it was.

“We continue to exercise our sovereignty in the Arctic while also making progress on outstanding boundary issues,” Mr. Cannon said.

In fact, negotiations are beginning to bear fruit after years in which Canada refused to discuss competing claims. The United States and Canada have long disagreed over where the border between Alaska and Yukon should be drawn, as it projects into the Beaufort Sea. While the Americans have sought a negotiated settlement, Canada preferred to agree to disagree.

But there is oil under the seabed, and petroleum companies are anxious to get at it. Last year, the Conservative government declared its willingness to reach a deal. The two countries have embarked on a joint mapping expedition of the ocean floor.

That exercise may not be completed until 2013, because the ice is too thick for much of the year, and a Canadian government official speaking on background said it might not be possible to complete an agreement until after then. In the meantime, a bilateral “dialogue of experts” is underway, with the next meeting scheduled for Washington in the spring.

Some Arctic-watchers believe the slow pace of the talks over the Beaufort is frustrating an impatient Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“The people at Foreign Affairs already have very full plates,” said Michael Byers, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia who specializes in Arctic issues. “They don't see the urgency of negotiations now when a solution probably isn't doable this year or even next year. So you have this tension between the Prime Minister's Office, which wants to see progress, and the department, which doesn't see it as a top priority.”

But Canadians officials maintained the pace had been agreed to with the American government. The Americans and Canadians “are committed to a win-win” agreement that satisfies both sides that their interests have been protected, one official said.

The U.S. government agrees. “Our technical teams have held productive meetings on the Beaufort boundary in the past,” the embassy said in a statement. “We look forward to continued discussions in the future.”

The nations that encircle the Arctic have agreed, under the Law of the Sea convention, to submit their claims over what they believe is their fair share of the Arctic seabed to the United Nations for arbitration. Canada’s deadline is 2013.

The UN will not arbitrate in areas where there is a border dispute, and an agreement over the Beaufort border is unlikely before 2014. But officials say this is only a minor impediment, especially since the U.S. hasn’t ratified the treaty anyway.

As for the biggest dispute of all, who controls the Northwest Passage, none of the players has even agreed to talk about it, and no resolution to the question of whether it is in Canadian or international waters is expected in the foreseeable future.

For the original text, see: Hans Island and Beaufort Sea

Comments

[Christopher Summers]

In regards to the Northwest Passage and the claims the author makes on the rejection of discussion between Canada and the US on control of the waterways. What is the role of NORDREG? I guess what I am trying to ask is, does Canada have the right or authority to set up a regulatory agency for the Northwest Passage, run by the Canadian Coast Guard, before any deal is reached between Canada and the US (or any state for that matter) on the definition of the NWP? Thoughts would be great.

[Charlott Johansen]

I would assume no, as there is no legal definition of what entails the NWP. But, the entrances to the NWP (such as Lancaster Sound) are (as far as I have understood) canadian land and they can thus have the authority to set up regulatory agencies.
Also, the Northwest Passage, historically, have been Canadian and until there is some sort of legal ruling of who the NWP belongs to, Canada can go forth with their own regulations.
Might be clueless here, but this seems to me to be the reasoning and support the Canadians have used in asserting their right to set up these mandatory regulatory agencies.

[Denmark Culture]

I find it astonishing that any one country has to claim a share of the sea. It is so funny the way in which the world works, you would never imagine that there is a 2013 deadline for this either. I think that all sea and land should not be owned by any one source.

[Berlin Society]

It is a shame that both Greenland and Ellesmere Island can't beg to differ and share the possession of the piece of rock between them both. I think it is a shame that countries have to fall about about boundaries and who owns what.

[Oliver]

Hey have people got nothing better to do man, than fight over a piece of rock. Can it even be used by either Denmark or Canada, or are they simply fighting about it because they have nothing better to do. Chill Out that is all I can say.

[Jo]

Surely a sea bed is a sea bed, it should not be owned by one country or another country. I have never really understood why people fight over rocks in the sea, which are of no use to anyone really.

[Sean]

Our military is just large enough to launch a successful invasion of Greenland. Lets take the over. The rest of the world will be so stunned they will sit back and do nothing while they try to figure out how Canada suddenly became an assertive colonial super duper power.

But first, lets invite Iceland to join our confederation as a territory, then we can launch as two front attack on Greenland.