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'This is our country'

It's been called "the Arctic Grail." For centuries, European explorers were obsessed with the quest for a route around North America to the Orient. Norway's Roald Amundsen finally conquered the Northwest Passage in 1906. But long Arctic winters meant the route couldn't be exploited commercially. Global warming could change all that by melting the ice and making the passage a key shipping route. But as this happens, the controversial question of sovereignty becomes increasingly important. Does the Northwest Passage belong to Canada or the world?

The U.S. super tanker, the S.S. Manhattan, has recently crossed the Northwest Passage. That voyage shone the spotlight on the issue of the waterway's sovereignty. Does Canada control it, or is it an international waterway? But there's another question that's often ignored - what about the "Eskimos" who live in the area? In this 1970 radio clip, several politicians offer opinions on how the natives of the north should be handled as the area evolves. Meanwhile, a representative of the native community voices an opinion of her own: "This is our country."
• Inuit land use has frequently been cited by Canada when arguing for its sovereignty of the Northwest Passage. Since the waterway is frozen over much of the year, the ice essentially becomes land used by the Inuit (who are Canadian citizens) for hunting, working and living.
• In a 2002 speech, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, President of Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada), offered what she called an "Inuit perspective" on Canada's Arctic sovereignty: "Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic is indivisible. It embraces land, sea and ice… From time immemorial Canada's Inuit people have used and occupied the ice as they have used and occupied the land."
Medium: Radio
Program: Sunday Magazine
Broadcast Date: March 8, 1970
Guest(s): Jed Baldwin, Andrew Brewin, Paul St. Pierre
Host: Bruce Rogers, Gordon Jones
Duration: 5:19
Photo: courtesy National Archives PA-166356 L.D. Livingstone

Last updated: July 19, 2012

Page consulted on March 25, 2013

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