Inkless Wells

Inkless Wells

Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

Categories: Capital Read, Inkless Wells

That'll teach them

by Paul Wells on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:43am - 15 Comments

U.S. nuclear sub surfaces near the North Pole; Canadian foreign minister promises to get tough on “countries like Russia” that snub our Arctic “sovereignty.” Why, it’s… it’s almost as though this whole Arctic “sovereignty” strategy were an ineffective charade. Who could have foreseen this? Who?

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  • Andre

    Kady! That's who! ….oh wait…

  • Dot

    Yeah, but Canada is an "energy superpower", as Mr. Cannon reminds us.. Just those two words should send shivers down the backs of other countries. Oh, Russia is a real one? Oops.

  • Mike T.

    I'M IN UR ICE CAPZ FLAUNTIN' UR SOVRINTY LOLZ!!!!!1111

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/robert_mccl6309 Robert McClelland

    Who could have foreseen this?

    Big deal. In punditland being right only means you shouldn't be taken seriously.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/sourstud sourstud

      I think you just summed up left-wing group think perfectly. Thank you!

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/robert_mccl6309 Robert McClelland

        How does simply describing reality sum up "left-wing group think"?

        • YSP

          If you have reality issues, and group everyone who disagrees with you into one big pile, it makes perfect sense.

  • kcm

    "And, the thinking goes, it’s getting easier to get around up there, because the earth is warming. The Arctic really started to become a hot topic—it gets hard to avoid lousy puns around here—in 2004, when the Arctic Council released the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, which declared that annual average Arctic temperatures have increased almost twice as rapidly as temperatures in the rest of the world in recent decades. That means less sea ice, a longer navigation season, increased sea traffic and, perhaps, increased offshore oil and gas extraction"

    You might want to be a little more circumspect with your CC info PW?
    After all it is a giant hoax. C'mon guys, all together now! The earths is gtting warmer…the ….

  • peter

    Last time I looked at a globe the north pole was Santa's sovereign territory. Even "idioits" with a poor grasp of Latin can confirm this for themselves.

    As well, our "allies" do get a little more wiggle room than our former adversaries. As to the submarine, if it was an attack boat (which almost a certainty) its surfacing and advertising its position would be some sort of a message to someone else who was skulking around up there. Since whatever operation being run by whoever at the north pole was probably supposed to be secret the USN was sending a specific message to a select audience saying " we could have dropped you like a bad habit if we chose to".

    The alternative explanation, that they were trying to make Peter McKay look bad and pundits look good is a bit of a stretch.

    It' sort of like the difference between coming home and finding your brother has let himself in to your house and helped himself to beer as opposed to a B and E guy who has stolen all your valuables and trashed the place.

    .

    • Mike R

      Good points. As well, despite frequent references to the notion of US subs using the Northwest Passage, it is unlikely they have ever done so other than on an experimental basis, and certainly not routinely. The passage is too constricted and shallow for any submariner to be comfortable using it as a means of going from the Pacific to the Altantic or vice versa – and passing through international waters over the north pole is a far easier and more safely clandestine approach for anyone.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

    I dunno. Lawrence Cannon scares the hell outta me.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

    Do we have any evidence that this was a "snub"? It's not like the American sub was planting tiny flags on the ocean floor.

    Sure, Harper may have gotten carried away the "Arctic Sovereignty" rhetoric but I believe he is acting in Canada's best strategic interests by sending a signal to the other players. Most countries that border the Arctic have also boosted their military presence in the North.

    • Dot

      No snub, they just took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

      Cannon's firing blanks: no balls.

  • YSP

    I find the name choice of "Operation Nanook" telling.

    Robert Flaherty, a graduate of Upper Canada College & member of the southern Ontario elite, went up north for a short visit, filmed a highly inaccurate and idealized documentary about a local named Nanook, and went back south. Shortly afterwards, Nanook and his family starved to death.

    I'm making a parallel to Canadian arctic sovereignty, in case it's not obvious.

  • YSP

    I find the name choice of "Operation Nanook" telling.

    Robert Flaherty, a graduate of Upper Canada College & member of the southern Ontario elite, went up north for a short visit, filmed a highly inaccurate and idealized documentary about a local named Nanook, and went back south. Shortly afterwards, Nanook and his family starved to death.

    I'm making a parallel to Canadian arctic sovereignty, in case it's not obvious.

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