First scuffle of Harper Government?

[Madman]

Southwestern Ontario looks so confused on that map.

I thought it was worth pointing out because of the clean cut urban/rural divide. Stark.

[BubberMiley]

That's not that unusual though. Look at Winnipeg/Manitoba. That's not confusion; that's just the difference between country and city folk.

[uOttawaMan]

Hey I consider myself to be a lefty ( i support my NDP ) but I'm still appreciative of the fact Steven Harper wants to stick to his guns (artic sovreignty is part of his platform) Whether or not anything happens up there is highly debatable, but hey , good work for showing some balls Harper.

The real question here is if this is the right battle to fight. Do you want Artic sovreignty, or do you want trade disputes resolved? The US is not known for backing down on many issues, so Mr.Harper will have to pick his spots.

[Hicksey]

Satire and you are barely passing aquaintances, hey? "Eating babies" has become a lexiconal way of saying someone is evil. Now, I happen to think Dick Cheney is quite possibly the evilest motherf**ker in North America, which places him high in the rankings worldwide. But i do not actually think he eats babies. But I digress.

The bit about eating babies being equated to being evil is new to me. Anyway, I'm not a Bush nor am I a Cheney fan, but I'd hardly call them evil. Out of sheer curiosity, on what do you base your intense hate for them? I think Bush will go down as one of the worst POTUS in a long long time, but evil? I think they are seriously misguided, but not evil.

[Argus]

How does Canada defend claims over ocean which is further than 12 miles from its shores?

That would be like the USA claiming the Atlantic ocean all the way up to Bermuda or something.

It's the string of islands. Each island that's Canadian territory extends our territorial waters - to include the next island, which is Canadian territory, which then extends our territorial waters - to the next island. etc.,

[geoffrey]

How does Canada defend claims over ocean which is further than 12 miles from its shores?

That would be like the USA claiming the Atlantic ocean all the way up to Bermuda or something.

It's the string of islands. Each island that's Canadian territory extends our territorial waters - to include the next island, which is Canadian territory, which then extends our territorial waters - to the next island. etc.,

It's questionable, I don't know how much of that water is really ours to protect. That doesn't mean we don't need to protect the north though. The Denmarkians have already tried to conquer us via that route once.

[YankAbroad]

It's a little dodgy to claim all the water between two landmasses as yours though. . .

The other problem being that if Canada doesn't have the military power to keep those waterways clear of vessels they don't want there, then they lose their de-facto claim over them anyway. And only one country in this hemisphere has the ability to assist Canada in this task. . .

[uOttawaMan]

It's a little dodgy to claim all the water between two landmasses as yours though. . .

The other problem being that if Canada doesn't have the military power to keep those waterways clear of vessels they don't want there, then they lose their de-facto claim over them anyway. And only one country in this hemisphere has the ability to assist Canada in this task. . .

Greenland?????

[YankAbroad]

During the height of the cold war, there were more US submarines under the North Pole than there were Canadian naval officers around the world!

[fellowtraveller]

Hey I consider myself to be a lefty ( i support my NDP ) but I'm still appreciative of the fact Steven Harper wants to stick to his guns (artic sovreignty is part of his platform) Whether or not anything happens up there is highly debatable, but hey , good work for showing some balls Harper.

The real question here is if this is the right battle to fight. Do you want Artic sovreignty, or do you want trade disputes resolved? The US is not known for backing down on many issues, so Mr.Harper will have to pick his spots.

Well looky here! Already, Harper has a convert! His first day at work was not wasted.

[cybercoma]

It's questionable, I don't know how much of that water is really ours to protect. That doesn't mean we don't need to protect the north though. The Denmarkians have already tried to conquer us via that route once.

What's questionable about it? Territorial waters extend 22kms from the shoreline from each island that is under the Canadian flag. When those islands are less than 44kms apart, all the water between them is Canadian territory, as Argus said.

[geoffrey]

It's questionable, I don't know how much of that water is really ours to protect. That doesn't mean we don't need to protect the north though. The Denmarkians have already tried to conquer us via that route once.

What's questionable about it? Territorial waters extend 22kms from the shoreline from each island that is under the Canadian flag. When those islands are less than 44kms apart, all the water between them is Canadian territory, as Argus said.

Thats true, but only if we assert soverignty over it. If you don't protect it, its not yours. So lets get some boats up there and start sinking things that float on by.

Or just big cannons like on that WWII movie, you know, where the commandos go and blow up the big cannons in Spain or something? Someone help me out here, I want to go rent this now and I don't remember what its called?

Either way, ships, cannons, whatever. Defend our water and people will respect it in a hurry. We need to start sinking those Portuguese fisherman that wander on over too. Sink one and they'll all stop in a hurry.