Global warming has drastically reduced the extent of sea ice in the Canadian high Arctic, whose islands are now navigable in summer without ice-breaking equipment. Recently a Danish coal carrier vessel, the Aurora Borealis, navigated this route from Vancouver, Canada to Pori, Finland. “We’ve proven the Northwest Passage is open to the world as a viable transoceanic shipping route. It shaved four days, 2,000 kilometres, and $200,000 off the Panama Canal route, and its deeper waters let us carry 25% more cargo,” said company spokesman Marcus Lindstrom.

Like its Scandinavian and Russian counterparts, the Canadian government considers its arctic passage a national territorial waterway. Deemed “historic internal waters,” the route falls unquestionably under Canadian jurisdiction, explains Northern Development Minister Bruce Anderson. Anderson applauds a new atlas produced by cartographer Adriana Chevrier and Inuit elders, showing Inuit land and sea ice routes dating back centuries and shoring up Canada’s claim to the Arctic archipelago by virtue of the legal principle of long-time use and occupancy. Modern commercial traffic helps, too. As international law professor Zachary Michaels said in a public lecture, “Valuable legal precedents are established every time a foreign vessel makes the crossing while complying with its legal obligation to register with and be monitored by the Canadian Coast Guard.” Beyond that, annual prime ministerial visits and Canadian Forces exercises in the region bolster Canada’s claim.

However, Canadian arctic sovereignty is recognized by neither the EU nor the US, the latter due to Republican-backed non-ratification of UNCLOS (the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea). The US considers the Northwest Passage an international waterway, balking at its northern neighbour’s registration and monitoring requirements and once allegedly steering a nuclear-powered submarine through the route without permission. “Recognition of Canadian arctic sovereignty would be detrimental to our economic interests,” said Republican senator Morris Homeniuk, who points out that Canada still owns no reliable modern patrol vessels, often depending on the US Talisman to escort its ageing Canadian icebreaker to safety. “This is not what sovereignty looks like,” says Homeniuk.