The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in July 2008, during an annual Arctic voyage that includes patrols through the Northwest Passage. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

The Northwest Passage should have a more Canadian name to assert Canada's claim over the Arctic waterway, says Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell.

Bagnell spoke in favour of a motion presented in the House of Commons this week, calling on the government to rename the route as the Canadian Northwest Passage or the Canadian Arctic Passage.

The private member's motion, presented by Ontario Conservative MP Daryl Kramp, proposes that "as the various waterways known as the 'Northwest Passage' are historic internal waters of Canada, the government should endeavour to refer to these waterways as the 'Canadian Northwest Passage.'"

The United States and Europe have claimed that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway, while Canada has held its position that it's an internal passage.

A name change could make to clear to the rest of the world that the Northwest Passage is part of Canada, Bagnell said.

"We claim it to be part of our internal waters, which gives us a lot more authority and control over it," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

"So we thought that it would just help make the point clear if on all the maps it said the Canadian Arctic Passage or the Canadian Northwest Passage."

The motion was debated in the Commons on Monday and Bagnell said all parties spoke in favour of it. The issue will be up for debate again in about a month.