Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told Calgary high school students Monday that he agrees with many of the military tactics Prime Minister Stephen Harper has employed to assert Canada's sovereignty over the north. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Canada should push for the creation of an international park that would protect the area around the North Pole, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Monday.

It's crucial Canada get involved in international talks about who owns the North to help figure out a way to take care of the region, he told a group of Calgary high school students.

"One of the proposals I've read about recently which I strongly support is that I think Canada could be part of an international agreement to make the North Pole, the whole area of the North Pole, an international public park for the world."

Ignatieff said he agrees with many of the military tactics Prime Minister Stephen Harper has employed to assert Canada's sovereignty over the north, including military patrols, icebreakers and the Canadian Rangers.

But global diplomacy needs to be a much bigger part of the country's plan, he said.

All of the countries that have tried to claim ownership of the region, including Russia, the United States and Denmark, need to sit down around a table and figure out a strategy.

"We've got to get everybody around a table and say, 'What do we want to do with this thing for the next 50 years?"'

Arctic countries, including Canada, have resisted international rules for northern waters made increasingly accessible by melting sea ice. They have said they will look after safety and environmental protection themselves.

A recent American report points out that despite increasing traffic in northern waters, the International Maritime Organization's regulatory safeguards are almost all voluntary.

No recognized programs

There are no internationally recognized programs for operating in icy seas. Arctic nations are unable to track vessels moving through northern waters and resources to deal with a shipping disaster or oil spill are far from where they are likely to be needed.

Such questions become more important as climate change melts the ice of the Northwest Passage, which could soon make it a viable shipping route, Ignatieff said.

Last summer, a record 26 cruises were planned through the Canadian Arctic archipelago. An all-time high of at least eight private vessels attempted to sail the Northwest Passage.

Canada claims the passage as an internal waterway while other countries see it as an international area that everyone should be free to use. Canada should continue to claim the region, but settling that dispute isn't the most important part of the equation, said Ignatieff.

"The way forward is simply to agree to disagree. To say what matters here is stewardship. The thing we do not want are oil slicks, environmental damage and harm up there, a kind of free-for-all."

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon suggested in a speech last month that the Conservative government's stance on the region might be softening.

He called for a renewed focus on the role and importance of the eight-nation Arctic Council, drawing praise from some Arctic policy experts who saw it as a shift away from Harper's primary emphasis on bolstering Canada's military presence in the North.

The American government also called for enhanced protection of the Earth's polar regions on Monday.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said more environmental research is needed at both poles at the beginning of a conference of the members of the 50-year-old Antarctic Treaty, which places restrictions on how the area is used and bans military use of the continent.

Clinton said the Antarctic Treaty could be a model for improved co-operation and co-ordination in the Arctic, which is not governed by a similar pact.