IBRU Boundary and Security Bulletin, Summer 2000©

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Newfoundland; Canada; Law of the Sea
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.693.6990

Canada was one of the more active members of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea held at Geneva, New York and Caracas during the 1970s and early 1980s. Slowly States ratified the Convention, and in November 1994, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force. Canada has some 10,000km of coastal perimeter and has much at stake since many of its resources, living and non-living, are located in or under the sea. However, much of this coast is rarely seen and its precise location and details of its features are poorly understood. In 1964, Canada passed the Territorial Sea and Fishing Zones Act that provided for the use of straight baselines. In 1967, Order in Council, P.C. 1967-2025 defined the specific points for the straight baselines of Labrador and Newfoundland, also listed some low-tide elevations and discrete islands. The territorial sea baselines for southern Canada are now defined in Consolidated Regulations of Canada, 1978, chapter 1550, commonly abbreviated: CRC, 1978, c. 1550. The baselines, low water line segments and individual rocks and islets in Arctic Canada were explicitly defined in domestic law by an Order in Council issued in 1986. Except for the