Emergent Arctic, Divergent Approaches: The impact of federal organizations on Canada's pursuit of sovereignty over its Arctic waters

• Main Author: Adair, Geoffrey
• Other Authors: Huebert, Rob
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Graduate Studies 2012
• Subjects: Political Science; Arctic Sovereignty; Institutional Theory; International Law; Arctic; Canada; Arctic Archipelago; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11023/207; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25876

Climate change has reduced the width and breadth of sea ice in the waters of the Canadian Arctic, rendering the region more accessible to southern interests, particularly shipping, than at any time in its history. The realities of an emergent Arctic have rekindled old fears regarding the nature and extent of Canadian sovereignty over the waters of its Arctic Archipelago. These fears are related to the historically and legally contested nature of Canadian claims. While the Canadian government is asserting its sovereignty in the Arctic region, the federal organizations that are the instruments of sovereignty assertion are both impacting the manner in which Canada’s Arctic foreign policy is conducted and affecting Canada’s sovereignty claims. This paper investigates said organizational effects through interviews conducted with high ranking members, current and retired, of the Royal Canadian Navy, The Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.