Still Unresolved after Fifty Years: The Northwest Passage in Canadian-American Relations, 1946–1998

Abstract

Introduction sailor dream of five centuries: The Near Way to Far East is North.(1) Canadians have a near-mystical bond to their Arctic, a frigid vastness that has sparked Canadian imagination, inspired and shaped a Canadian national identity, and fomented debate over perceived and real challenges to Canadian sovereignty in region. approach to Arctic is overtly nationalistic,(2) and arctic sovereignty is of paramount importance, to be protected and preserved. However, for United States, Arctic is first and foremost linked to national security which, due to interplay of geography, array of Cold War Soviet threats, and even current technological innovations and military hardware, is understood in this context to mean continental defense. In United States' effort to maintain continental security, Canadian sovereignty sensitivities have, at times, been slighted, but intention has not been to deny Canadian arctic sovereignty. In postwar period, Canada's attempts to grapple with its emotional attachment to North, and considerable expense required to occupy and defend it, have been a recurring issue. Nowhere is poignancy of this dilemma more acute than with Northwest Passage, that series of waterways connecting Atlantic and Pacific Oceans north of mainland Canada. The issues and emotions surrounding Passage remain same after more than fifty years. Sovereignty is supreme legitimate authority within a territory.(3) It is one thing to claim authority and have it be recognized as legitimate, and another to maintain power and means to protect and enforce claim. The former is de jure sovereignty, latter de facto sovereignty.(4) Canadian de jure sovereignty over its arctic land and islands was internationally recognized by 1930s. But case of arctic waters, specifically both de jure and de facto sovereignty of Northwest Passage, remains unresolved even today. Canada has never proclaimed its intention to exercise exclusive use or presence in Northwest Passage. But process of reaching present Canadian position that of Canadian Arctic Archipelago, including Northwest Passage, are historical internal waters with no right of passages(5) has been anything but direct and swift.(6) In addition, Canada has rarely allocated or committed funds, personnel, or equipment to monitor, defend, or protect Passage. The United States maintains that Passage is an international strait with right of transit passage(7) and largely immune from jurisdiction of contiguous state. Challenges, real or perceived, have proven to be a periodic thorn in Canadian-American relations. In 1987, Secretary of State for External Affairs, Joe Clark, declared that Northwest Passage was the `one pure sovereignty issue of truly major proportions.'(8) But what is status of Northwest Passage in this long-running and still controversial saga in U.S.-Canadian relations? Can there be resolution or will Canada's tentative, underfunded approach and America's unyielding adherence to freedom of navigation perpetuate piecemeal solutions? Is issue any different today from what it was fifty years ago? While both history of and claims to Northwest Passage have been explored,(9) this paper argues that now is time to conclude heretofore elusive settlement. While not minimizing complexity of situation, this paper argues that by evaluating history of and claims to Passage, it can be concluded that it is in best interests of both nations to find a practical, bilateral, narrowly defined solution that recognizes Canada's sovereignty claims, while at same time addressing United States' continental security concerns. The basis of this conclusion lies in four factors: Canada's place as a paramount ally and continental partner of United States, history of bilateral cooperation for more than fifty years, geographically unique nature of Northwest Passage that precludes any arrangement becoming precedent-setting with regard to other straits, and fact that Passage is not considered a vital choke point by United States military. …