Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934
Many writers have presented Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934) as a hero whose key role in establishing Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands was unjustly downplayed by the government he served. According to this view, the sector claim that Bernier made on 1 July 1909 is the true foundati...
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ftcarletonunivir:oai:carleton.ca:15609 2023-05-15T14:57:10+02:00 Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 Cavell, J. (Janice) 2014-01-01 https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/15609 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247413000466 en eng https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/15609 doi:10.1017/S0032247413000466 Polar Record vol. 50 no. 3, pp. 293-310 info:eu-repo/semantics/other 2014 ftcarletonunivir https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247413000466 2022-02-06T21:50:48Z Many writers have presented Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934) as a hero whose key role in establishing Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands was unjustly downplayed by the government he served. According to this view, the sector claim that Bernier made on 1 July 1909 is the true foundation of Canada's title to the archipelago. This article draws on government files to assess civil servants' attitude to his sovereignty-related activities. It also describes the role played by James White, whose more sophisticated and effective sector concept predated Bernier's and served as the basis for the official sector claim made in June 1925. The evidence indicates that government officials in the 1920s were well justified in their doubts about Bernier's pretensions. However, even though they rejected his version of the sector theory and resented the campaign of self-glorification on which he embarked after his retirement, their personal relations with him were good, and they took considerable trouble to ensure what they considered to be an appropriate degree of recognition for him. The article therefore clarifies the differences between Bernier's rhetoric and reality, particularly with regard to the sector principle. Other/Unknown Material Arctic Polar Record Carleton University's Institutional Repository Arctic Polar Record 50 3 293 310 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Carleton University's Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftcarletonunivir |
language |
English |
description |
Many writers have presented Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934) as a hero whose key role in establishing Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands was unjustly downplayed by the government he served. According to this view, the sector claim that Bernier made on 1 July 1909 is the true foundation of Canada's title to the archipelago. This article draws on government files to assess civil servants' attitude to his sovereignty-related activities. It also describes the role played by James White, whose more sophisticated and effective sector concept predated Bernier's and served as the basis for the official sector claim made in June 1925. The evidence indicates that government officials in the 1920s were well justified in their doubts about Bernier's pretensions. However, even though they rejected his version of the sector theory and resented the campaign of self-glorification on which he embarked after his retirement, their personal relations with him were good, and they took considerable trouble to ensure what they considered to be an appropriate degree of recognition for him. The article therefore clarifies the differences between Bernier's rhetoric and reality, particularly with regard to the sector principle. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Cavell, J. (Janice) |
spellingShingle |
Cavell, J. (Janice) Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
author_facet |
Cavell, J. (Janice) |
author_sort |
Cavell, J. (Janice) |
title |
Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
title_short |
Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
title_full |
Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
title_fullStr |
Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sector claims and counter-claims: Joseph Elzéar Bernier, the Canadian government, and Arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
title_sort |
sector claims and counter-claims: joseph elzéar bernier, the canadian government, and arctic sovereignty, 1898-1934 |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/15609 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247413000466 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Arctic Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record vol. 50 no. 3, pp. 293-310 |
op_relation |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/15609 doi:10.1017/S0032247413000466 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247413000466 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
293 |
op_container_end_page |
310 |
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1766329259947720704 |