Russia Unveils Aggressive Arctic Plans

Putin is out of control and must be dealt with... The sooner the better....

Canada missed the boat.Better we don`t have the boat

I have a solution,we start exploration drilling all along our border.Because the ice is allmost ten feet thick for 9 months of the year it could be done overland from a base camp north of Baffin island.We use small heli portable rigs and put one every ten miles,the road to the drills would become our border.

As base camp is supplied we keep pushing on with a rig every ten miles and eventually move the base camp closer to the front of the line.

This way we assert our soverieghnity along our border,we get valuable data from the drill cores,and we have a road and supply lines to outposts all along our border.

Plus this would push the Rusians hand,what are they going to do? Send jets to bomb the drills?

This is Russia we are talking about.

Well,it is our land and we do have equipment up there that could start immediately.

Plus,best to fight someone on your home soil,major offensive bonus.

If it's our's we should start exploiting it before someone else does.

We could allways sit back,watch the Russians move in and wait for the US to save our ass which will come with a hefty price.

Like a good portion of the reserves there.


We have the infrastructure in place and the expertise to start an exploration program up there within a week.

Anyone got a map that shows our disputed border?
I would like to do up a hypothetical logistics plan on what it would take to get the wheels in motion for exploration all along it.

This would be better then icebreakers and good for energy security and soveriegnity.

Yeah, but unless there is a guarantee that it exists who would pay for it? Petro Canada? Shell? Or the government?

I'd far prefer the government invest in icebreakers that can be used everywhere in the Arctic, as well as the St, Lawrence, than on oil rigs that may or may not find anything. Otherwise you're just creating a water-borne Alert.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7543837.stm

There are better ones, but this does the job well enough.

Yeah, but unless there is a guarantee that it exists who would pay for it? Petro Canada? Shell? Or the government?

I'd far prefer the government invest in icebreakers that can be used everywhere in the Arctic, as well as the St, Lawrence, than on oil rigs that may or may not find anything. Otherwise you're just creating a water-borne Alert.

The Govt. would have to fund it.
It would also create a lot more jobs then one icebreaker that we all know we wont ever see. Plus why go and break through ten feet of ice up in the arctic where there's nothing happening? Why not do some exploration drilling for gold and other precious minerals?
Thay have better thing's to do like clear ice for the ferry's and barge's to remote communities in Labrador.

Or we can sit and wait untill someone else go's in there and then cry about our claim on it.Take it to the world court and win.By then it would be too late.

There's diamond mines in Nunavut that just shut down,lots of machinery and drills sitting around now,very close to our "border" and can be moved very quickly as the ice in the arctic wont melt untill late june.
We dont have to do expensive oil or gas drilling,just heli portable core drilling for say....uranium. .

The French from Quebec own the arctic,they explored it,claimed a lot of the land and have the rights to explore for diamonds,gold,platinum,uranium and anything else they find.

That's why in most place's in Nunavut they speak english,Inuktitut and french.
So we have infrastructure in place to do this,and a supply line.

Jobs for everyone,resources for Canada to sell,and our rights to the Arctic are now made clear to the world.It's our's motha's!!!!

Right, you're in charge of that, then.

Yeah, but unless there is a guarantee that it exists who would pay for it? Petro Canada? Shell? Or the government?

I'd far prefer the government invest in icebreakers that can be used everywhere in the Arctic, as well as the St, Lawrence, than on oil rigs that may or may not find anything. Otherwise you're just creating a water-borne Alert.

The Govt. would have to fund it.
It would also create a lot more jobs then one icebreaker that we all know we wont ever see. Plus why go and break through ten feet of ice up in the arctic where there's nothing happening? Why not do some exploration drilling for gold and other precious minerals?
Thay have better thing's to do like clear ice for the ferry's and barge's to remote communities in Labrador.

Or we can sit and wait untill someone else go's in there and then cry about our claim on it.Take it to the world court and win.By then it would be too late.

There's diamond mines in Nunavut that just shut down,lots of machinery and drills sitting around now,very close to our "border" and can be moved very quickly as the ice in the arctic wont melt untill late june.
We dont have to do expensive oil or gas drilling,just heli portable core drilling for say....uranium. .

The French from Quebec own the arctic,they explored it,claimed a lot of the land and have the rights to explore for diamonds,gold,platinum,uranium and anything else they find.

That's why in most place's in Nunavut they speak english,Inuktitut and french.
So we have infrastructure in place to do this,and a supply line.

Jobs for everyone,resources for Canada to sell,and our rights to the Arctic are now made clear to the world.It's our's motha's!!!!

Well, the heavy icebreakers needed for Arctic use generally could be also used for for Arctic research, surveying, supplying outposts, etc., which the Terry Fox and Wilfrid Laurier do now anyways. Unfortunately, Harper cancelled his original plans for three heavy icebreakers (capable of year round operations) and will build 6-8 Arctic patrol ships, dubbed 'slushbreakers' by the Opposition, as they can only operate in 1m ice, which means they can be used in the summer and early fall. That's is not good enough, IMHO.

I like the idea of building more outposts in the North (hell, I think a maximum security prison would be great too), but without a fleet of icebreakers, we'd have to commit a lot of air support to doing the same job (one icebreaker can carry far more than one plane after all).

Harper also needs to get on with opening the deep water port at Nanisivik and start building the underwater monitoring system.

You should try and find Arctic Front by Ken Coates. It's a really good read on the history and current state of affairs in the Arctic. The problem with Canada and the Arctic was never that it cost to much, it was just that no one cared. How many Vancouverites care about the Arctic? Or Nova Scotians? Or Edmontonians? People want big action but never want to pay for it. The CF is a pretty good example of that.

Air support is way cheaper then shipping it in that 3 month window when the ice is clear.

Then you could drill,2 guys to a heli drill,these guys are tough,they can live in anyhing. Mostly their Maritimers.
An icebreaker isnt going to make any money for Canada,my plan would.

From the look of that interactive map in the article...

http://www.spiegel.de/flash/0,5532,18973,00.html

it looks like our biggest beef would be with the Americans, and the Danes.

There's the North Pole with Russia, but Santa lives there. A foreigner flying around with a Canadian passport breaking into people's houses. Who needs that headache.