The Return of the Vikings

The Vikings have returned to Canada and are trying to take over Canadian territory! They have not come in the traditional long-boats, but in a modern, ice-strengthened frigate. This past summer, the Danish government sent the frigate Vaedderen to patrol the waters between the northwest corner of Greenland and Ellesmere Island. The Danes have regularly been sending warships to this area for quite some time now. This year's voyage is notable for where the vessel sailed and what it did. In a dispute of which few Canadians are aware, the governments of Canada and Denmark contest the ownership of Hans Island, a small island located at the northernmost tip of western Greenland. It is a small and almost insignificant island that shows up on few maps. Canada has always maintained that it is Canadian. Because the warship sailed into the disputed waters surrounding the island and may have landed troops on it, the Canadian government took the step of issuing a diplomatic protest to the Danish government.

The question that arises is why this island is so important? In and of itself, the island is remote. However, its location affects the manner by which the maritime boundary is determined between northern Greenland and Canada. In turn, this international boundary takes on significance for three reasons. First, these waters contain important fish stocks including turbot and shrimp. The boundary will affect the northern divisions of this resource. Secondly, it has been reported that Greenland Inuit have been crossing over to Baffin Island to engage in illegal polar bear hunts. The Canadian Rangers have been dispatched to Baffin Island but have not caught any of the alleged hunters. If it proves to have been a long-term habit, it is conceivable that the Greenland homeland government could argue that the hunt is an established right. Thus, any boundary dispute between Canada and Denmark could exacerbate that situation. Thirdly, the impact of climate change is expected to cause substantial warming of the Polar region. Thus, while the region is remote and inhospitable, this could change rapidly as the region warms.

Before Canadians see this as a return of the attacking, pillaging Vikings, the issue needs to be put into perspective. The ownership of the island is a relatively unimportant issue. The island has no resources and is located in one of the most inhospitable regions of the globe. Its most profound impact will be to produce a minor change in the boundary line between Canada and Greenland. Then why worry? The worry arises when considering the broader ramifications of the dispute. First, Canadians need to be concerned about the precedent that will be established by an unfavourable resolution of this dispute. Most Canadians may believe that the territorial integrity of Canada is complete and without challenge. This is not true. There are now two other current boundary disputes (not counting Hans Island) and one potential boundary dispute in the Canadian north. The United States still maintains that the Northwest Passage is an international strait and not internal waters as Canada claims; and the northern maritime boundary between Alaska and Yukon is disputed. The possibility also exists that Canada and Russia may have overlapping claims for the continental shelf in the high Arctic. But since Canada has never bothered to ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, it has yet to determine the northern limits of its shelf! Thus, it is not yet known if a dispute exists. Given the importance of precedence in international law, the unfavourable settlement to Canadian interests of any of these disputes will have ramifications on the others. If Denmark wins its case, other states may come to regard the Canadian ability to protect its northern interests as weak.

The incident involving the Danish vessel highlights the problem of Canada's ability to know and defend its interests in the north. Canada has an extremely limited ability to know what is happening in its northern regions and an even lesser ability to respond. Unlike vessels entering Canadian waters on its east and west coasts, foreign vessels entering Canadian northern waters are requested, but not required, to report their presence. The problem is compounded by Canada not having a comprehensive surveillance capability that a designated satellite system would provide. RadarSat1 proves that Canadian industry has the capability to build such a system, but the government decided some time ago that the purchase of a system only for northern surveillance, was too expensive.

Thus the Vaedderen was not required to inform Canadian officials that it was entering Canadian waters. The real problem is that Canada has limited abilities to independently know what the vessel was doing if it does not tell. The Vaedderen did inform Canada that it was entering Canadian waters in the event that a storm forced it into a Canadian northern port. But once it was in disputed waters, it never again contacted the relevant Canadian Coast Guard officials. The Department of National Defence happened to have an Aurora long-range aircraft conducting fishery patrols in the region which provided some surveillance of the vessel. However, this was simply a very fortuitous event. The Auroras are aging and used for fewer and fewer northern patrols for either sovereignty enforcement or fisheries inspections. It is doubtful that they will be replaced when their service life is up. Thus, a sighting such as this is not likely to re-occur.

Even more troubling is the condition of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) ice-breaking fleet. It is very professional and one of the most highly trained fleets in the world, but it is small, aging and drastically underfunded. Unlike the Danes, none of our naval vessels are ice-strengthened, thus only the Coast Guard's icebreakers can actually voyage to the region surrounding Hans Island. The current inventory of CCG icebreakers are: one heavy - Louis St. Laurent built in 1969 (rebuilt 1988-92); four medium - Pierre Radisson (1978), Sir John Franklin (1979), Des Groseillers (1982), and Henry Larsen (1987). Compounding the limited number of vessels is the fact that the operational budget of these vessels has been continually reduced in the past decade to the point where the Coast Guard cannot operate these vessels all year round.

The Canadian Navy returned to the Canadian Arctic this past summer for the first time since 1989, but would have been incapable of sailing to Hans Island. In a joint exercise with both air and land forces, the Canadian coastal patrol vessels HMC Ships Summerside and Goose Bay, sailed as far north as Resolution Island off the southwest tip of Baffin Island. However, these vessels do not have ice-strengthened hulls and can enter these waters only for a short period of time. The original plan had included a frigate rather than coastal patrol vessels, but too expensive.

However, to ensure that the Canadian government's position is taken seriously, it must ensure that it also has the means to maintain a strong presence in these waters. It needs the tools to monitor and control its arctic region. There is not a requirement for ice-strengthened gunboats, but rather the means to respond to standard maritime problems such as search and rescue; environmental protection; and, the maintenance of law and order. By having the means to do so, Canada is then able to justify its claims of control. This will include a renewed ice-breaking fleet and surveillance capability discussed above. It will also have to include the training of personnel to have an ability to operate in the Canadian north. This will include navigation expertise, search and rescue in Arctic climates, and environmental responses to spills.

Thus the real problem of the modern day Vikings is not over Hans Island itself, but in that it demonstrates how bare the Canadian cupboard is to defend the Canadian north! The Canadian ability to know what is happening in the north and to subsequently act, is almost nonexistent. Given the fact Canadian northern boundaries are constantly being challenged by others, Canadians should be concerned. In addition, if scientific predictions are correct, the Canadian north will feel the greatest impact of global climate change. A warmer north will undoubtedly increase access to the Canadian north which, in turn, will increase challenges. In order to meet these coming challenges, Canada needs to now begin the process of rebuilding its northern capabilities including, but not limited to, new long-range patrol aircraft, icebreakers, and new surveillance systems. The return of the Vikings is only the beginning.