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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper went yesterday on a three-day trip to the Arctic regions of the country, in one of which Ottawa plans to build a deep-sea seaport. The prime minister's tour coincided with large-scale exercises by the Canadian Armed Forces in the north of the country. This means that Canada is also actively joining the fight for the Arctic, in which the United States and Russia have so far played a key role.

“The Russians sent a submarine to plant a small flag on the ocean floor. We are sending our prime minister,” a source in the Canadian government said frankly yesterday. Ottawa does not hide the fact that, although Stephen Harper’s trip had been planned for a long time, it acquired special significance in the context of the successful completion of the Russian Arctic 2007 expedition (see Kommersant on August 6).

During the three-day visit, Mr. Harper will visit several sites in the northern regions of the country, where he will come up with new initiatives for the development of territories adjacent to the Arctic. The prime minister is expected to announce the expansion of the Naanni National Natural Park and the creation of a training base in the village of Resolute to train military personnel for operations in Arctic conditions. But a key element of Canada's program to expand its presence in the Arctic is the decision to build a deep-sea port in one of the oceanfront communities.

Stephen Harper's tour coincides with the Canadian Forces' major exercise NANOOK-07, which is taking place in the same area. They are attended by units of the ground forces, air force and navy, which for the first time in recent years have included several submarines. During the exercise, two scenarios are practiced. According to the first, the troops are assisting the police in seizing a large shipment of drugs. The second provides for Army assistance to the Coast Guard “in the event of a violation of environmental safety.”

“The operations of the Canadian Armed Forces in the north are an important step towards ensuring the sovereignty of the country,” Canadian Army Lieutenant General Mark Dumais frankly declared. Despite the planned nature of the ten-day exercise, NANOOK-07 in Canada is called nothing less than “operation sovereignty”: the exercise is designed to demonstrate the seriousness of Ottawa’s intentions in the fight for the Arctic.

Canada's current increased activity in the Arctic is no coincidence. Even during the recent Russian expedition to the Arctic Ocean, Canadian officials did not hide their irritation with Moscow’s actions in planting the Russian flag on the ocean floor. The head of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay, then reproached Russia: “This is not the 15th century. You can’t go around the world, plant flags and say: “We claim this territory.” And Prime Minister Harper said that the planting of the Russian flag on the seabed of the North Pole once again confirmed the need for Canada to defend its sovereignty in the Arctic region.

Canada laid claim to the North Pole back in the late 50s of the last century. Then the International Court of Justice refused Ottawa, but ruled that this territory could go to Canada if within 100 years no one proves that the bottom of the Arctic Ocean belongs to it.

However, Ottawa is not going to just sit back and wait. Canadian authorities have decided to accelerate the program for the construction of eight Arctic patrol ships, which will cost the country's budget $7.12 billion. In addition, Prime Minister Harper is now persistently reminded of the election promises of the Conservative Party he leads to purchase several icebreakers capable of sailing through ice six meters thick. Canada also has an even more ambitious project - the “Road to Tuk”: it will connect the coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk (which is currently only accessible in winter) with the southern part of the country and thereby create a permanent path to the Arctic Ocean.

However, Canada’s recently sharply increased activity in the Arctic (including military) has not yet caused concern in Russia. “All countries that have the right to conduct exercises can engage in such activities. The main thing is that everything takes place within the framework of the law,” Andrei Krivtsov, deputy head of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Kommersant. However, he advised Canada not to seek any response to planting the Russian flag on the ocean floor. “We were the first to land there, our flag has already been planted. There is nothing to answer,” Mr. Krivtsov emphasized.

VASILY Kommersant-RULINSKY

Canada has decided to stake a claim in the Arctic