By Timothy Choi, 1 October 2021 On 1 October, 2021, HMCS Harry DeWolf, first-of-class of the Arctic & Offshore Patrol Vessels, arrived in Vancouver following its 10,050 km long journey from Halifax via the Northwest Passage - the first RCN vessel to do so since HMCS Labrador in 1954. Along […]
Northwest Passage
10 posts
As Yogi used to say, 'Deja vu all over again!' As in the late 1980s, the strategic importance of the Arctic rises to near the top of our national concerns. By far the greatest part of that concern should be for accident prevention in those waters closely followed by rescue […]
This week both the American and Canadian governments released the details of a “Tri-Command Framework for Arctic Cooperation” that would more closely coordinate the work of the U.S. Northern Command, Canada’s Joint Operational Command and NORAD in the arctic. While noting that the arctic region is not an area of […]
There appear to be few internationally contentious issues that Canada faces regarding its claims of sovereignty over its arctic landmasses, including its archipelago, aside from a minor challenge concerning Hans Island. The situation in the Arctic Ocean and its adjoining waters is less clear. While several minor maritime boundary challenges […]
It was probably some speechwriter in Ottawa who fed his political master the catchy phrase for describing Canada as a country ‘from coast, to coast, to coast’. The introduction of this phrase fragmented the image of Canada’s coastline into three segments that has likely impeded Canadian maritime policy formulation. Successive […]
There are many lessons to be learned from the sinking of MV Explorer. An article from the Maritime Journal contains a detailed report on the inquiry’s findings. Already, the U.S. is recommending new regulations to control commercial shipping in the antarctic region. The inquiry states that, despite extensive experience in […]
The United States National Intelligence Council (NIC) has released its report entitled Global Trends 2025. The report foresees a world that is faced with ever increasing population and ever dwindling resources. It is also a world where the dominance of the United States of America continues to diminish as economic […]
If we keep on dithering with Arctic Ocean policy, it will be the 'Arctic Desert' before the academics, politicians, military and bureaucrats get anything done - and by then it will be too late to do anything. Clearly we need to establish our footprint on, over and under the Canadian […]
During the past few months there has been increasing speculation that the project to upgrade the CP-140 Aurora (the Aurora Incremental Modernization Project or AIMP) would be terminated. The decision by government is expected on 20 Nov 2007. The Auroras were purchased in the early 1980's and were optimised for […]
Canada's navy is on the cusp of yet another transformational moment. The government's plan to build a modest fleet of arctic patrol vessels is clearly an invitation to the navy to adjust its thinking and embrace a new mission - in fact, it would be to re-embrace that mission because […]